Living Twice: Altering the Present
by MRAY 4TW
Summary: He... knows. They say the future is written in stone but he knows that while that may be true, he's the artisan, molding it into the one he wishes. He'll change the future when it arrives. Time manipulation... like no other! Naruto has the knowledge but what will he do with it? It's his responsibility... and his curse. NaruKin Naruto/Kin.
1. Chapter 1

**Living Twice: Here and Now**

 **I'm back again with a new fic. This one's personal and honestly; the story idea just spoke to me and it wouldn't leave me in peace no matter how many times I told it to have patience. I was going to wait 'till next year but I started typing… when is it? 12:44 am, September 29, 2015. Kinda sooner than I expected.**

 **We've all read some time story about Naruto travelling through time, or seeing Naruto having very far off future visions and all that. I present to you…**

 **Something different.**

 **You'll see what I have done different when you read. Whether you think he's extremely stronger because of the difference or weaker will be your own opinion. The relationship will be Naruto Uzumaki and Kin Tsuchi, (yeah, the Oto girl) and I don't want any other pairing suggestions. The whole harem thing in Breaking limits has me flummoxed at present and it's making me feel sexist. (I mean come on, Naruto gets all the gals and whatnot. Girls have feelings too and I'm sure they don't write harem fics like this with one girl being with a harem of guys. Err, do they?) so after B.L. I swore off writing any more harems. One guy sleeps with a lot of girls and he's a player but if a girl sleeps with a lot of guys she's a skank. That's why it's couples only.**

 **So here it is.**

 _ **A blessed Curse.**_

 _ **I knew…**_

 _ **It would happen.**_

 _ **I knew it would.**_

 _ **Should I stop it?**_

 _ **I could… but I won't.**_

 _ **What if I did but made things worse?**_

 _ **Or better?**_

 _ **Someone lift this curse!**_

 _ **I could stop it… and save you.**_

 _ **Or not… and kill you**_

 _ **Instead. Did you care for me**_

 _ **Back then? As far as I can see**_

 _ **You didn't. This curse belongs to God.**_

 _ **Please God! Take it away! Make it stop!**_

 _ **But I can help you.**_

 _ **Is it the**_

 _ **Right thing to do?**_

 _ **To kill you and save a thousand**_

 _ **Or kill the thousand and**_

 _ **Save you myself. But I can't.**_

 _ **To kill you**_

 _ **Would kill me also.**_

 _ **Why?**_

 _ **You make me whole.**_

 _ **But I don't want the curse.**_

 _ **By MRAY 4 THE WIN.**_

 **1.**

He ducked his head, allowing the spitball from behind him to go over his head and land on someone else.

"Wha…Ugh! Who did that?"

Naruto's face was that of a person who 'was bored out of his mind.' He used his thumb and pinted it behind him lazily. "It was the Inuzuka."

Sakura got up from her place beside the Uchiha, stomped up the space between the rows of students until she was beside the blond boy who looked very disinterested still. Without warning she proceeded to give the Uzumaki a knuckle sandwich.

Or… at least attempted to.

Naruto simply leaned back and the rosette's knuckled hand struck the desk where the boy sat.

Thud!

The girl yelped and pulled her hand back sharply and placed the back of it against her mouth to suck on it in an effort to dull the pain. "Agh!"

The almost victim just sighed. She has never hit him yet and she never will. Besides, she can't complain that he let her hit the desk by trying to hit him. That was dumb. In the back of his mind though, he could only muse about how old this was getting.

Really, really old.

"Naruto-baka! Stop lying! It came from your direction!" the girl shrieked in a small effort to regain some composure and respect.

"I said it was the Inuzuka. But I don't care if you believe me or not. Just leave me alone." The boy said with a roll of his eyes.

The girl huffed and went back to her seat crossly, upset that her attempt at some justice went unfruitful. Everyone was minding their own business. This was nothing new. It was a constant that Kiba would try to prank Naruto but it never worked. In fact, Naruto was never surprised. Kiba would attempt a prank or silly joke with Naruto Uzumaki as the brunt of it but it never came through.

Someone else would get it instead.

Naruto was an enigma. He never got caught, he never got surprised or frightened. He always told the truth, never lying. Above all, he was never lazy but he always had a slightly bored expression.

There was something to him that no one knew.

Iruka came into the classroom and conducted the daily lesson as usual. He wrote on the chalkboard and gave his lectures. And as expected, as Naruto had done everyday, he took notes of all that was taught, being a teacher's dream of a perfect listening student. As three pm struck, everyone filed outside to the Taijutsu mat, today being Friday. It tended to be on Friday so if and when they got injured they could heal over the weekend and be well enough to go to school come the following Monday.

Today was no different.

 **At the Fighting Mat**

The students gathered around the large square mat under the expansive shade of the two large trees that grew nearby. It was slightly padded to soften landings when the students fought each other. Anything else, one could say it was unusually smooth. It was said that this was to promote better fighting capabilities in slippery places but it was a well known fact the mat was replacing a coarser version after Kiba had practically sanded off someone's face on it when he was angry one day.

The victimized boy is now going to a civilian school these days.

Twenty seven students stood around, crowding the mat while waiting. As expected, Iruka made his way through the students and stood at the center of the mat, waiting on the students to settle down. They soon quieted down, knowing that the sooner they got this out of the way, they could go home and do whatever they pleased for two days.

"Alright. It's time for taijutsu." Iruka announced, looking over the students. "It will be between those as I see fit. I won't pit weaker students against someone who is excellent in it as usual. But be prepared for next week. You all know that the genin exams are next week and if you know you need some extra work, then do it. I'll let free challenges go first. After that, I'll tell you who goes against whom."

The civilians challenged each other and made some small bets on the side on who would win. All too soon, it was the rookies/colorful people remaining; those were Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanka, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara and Naruto Uzumaki.

The nine did not make a move to challenge each other. They were the best in the class and they all knew who was the best in Taijutsu. It was the pecking order. It was almost as if they had their own society and social classes and each knew who they could beat, who they could match in strength and who they would lose against.

And Iruka knew this as well as them. This was why they waited. There were nine of them. It was inevitable that one wouldn't fight or they would fight twice. Iruka would match them up so it would be fair… in a way.

"Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino." Iruka stated to the crowd, almost as an order.

The two aspiring kunoichi came to the mat and bowed to each other.

Naruto closed his eyes. 'They'll run to each other, Ino being faster because she has more confidence. Ino will attempt a punch to Hinata's right cheek but then she'll deflect it with her left hand and hold unto it. Hinata will then feint a tenketsu jab at Ino's throat but when the Yamanaka tries to avoid that, Hinata will disable Ino's captured arm with a jab at the shoulder. Because it seems painful to the girl, she'll forfeit. Hinata will apologize a lot while blushing before fixing her arm and then Sasuke and I will fight."

Naruto opened his eyes to watch what he thought play out before Iruka called out again.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hn."

"Forfeit."

The class started laughing at Naruto, Sakura being the loudest. "He's afraid of Sasuke-kun!" she catcalled with other students in agreement.

"I don't have to prove anything to any of you." he said in a bored tone. Somehow, the low volume of his speech rose over the din of the laughter. His tone was a real buzz kill; the laughter ceased.

The Uchiha smirked slightly. 'He's got the right idea. Everyone here is substandard. The only people here up to par are Uzumaki himself and the Aburame. Maybe Shikamaru too.'

The class continued with Shino beating Sakura a bit badly, Shikamaru forfeiting to Choji. Kiba practically destroyed another civilian learner when Iruka called it quits. The students thought he probably did so before he could get into trouble for letting a sparring fight go too far.

"Alright. That's enough, class. You may leave."

The students dispersed, going in separate directions to depart for their homes. Iruka beckoned to Sakura and the student who lost to Kiba to follow him to the academy's nurse to patch them up. Best friends paired up, clan heads and orphans went solo and soon, the area was empty of people.

 **With Naruto**

The Uzumaki walked along the roadway, noticing the passers-by parting to give him way as to not let the boy even rub on them when they passed. He took no note of them. He instead looked to sky in the west before he hurried to his destination. After a brief time of speed walking, his countenance improved when he saw the ramen shop. He quickly parted the privacy flaps before he took his seat at his stool of frequent choice gratefully.

"Teuchi-ojisan?! Ayame-neechan?!" he yelled in the seemingly empty ramen stand.

"Naruto-nii?" came the reply that sounded distant. "Coming!"

A minute later brunette girl with dark eyes and appeared to be in her late teens came out in a white waitress uniform. "Hey Naruto-nii!" Ayame said cheerfully.

"Kon-nichi-wa, Ayame-neechan." He said similarly. "Doing well?"

"Doing well! But, uh, Tou-san isn't too up to it today." Her bright countenance darkened a little. The Uzumaki leaned over the counter and Ayame mirrored the action, with Naruto whispering into her ear.

"Did you stop him?" he whispered discreetly.

"Yeah. I had 'accidently' burned him badly on his foot so he didn't come to work."

"So do you know if…" he trailed off.

"…Thankfully, no. I heard an anbu arrested them at midday. They were waiting at the corner."

"Did you tip off the anbu or something?" the boy asked.

"No. it was just by chance."

Naruto leaned back on his stool. "So all is well! That's great news!"

"Except dad's leg. He's getting some treatment later at the hospital. He should be here tomorrow. Arigatou Naruto!"

His face adopted an even look. "It's the least I could do."

"I know. It's a good thing you told me early this morning. I just wake up to find you knocking at the door. Next time say something while I'm still awake, huh?" the girl started chuckling.

"Hopefully there won't be a next time." He frowned, deep in thought. Her mood soured as well when she thought of her father. He could have been dead, just like that. 'We take life for granted.'

He looked up and saw her face and tried to lighten the gloom that had settled over them. "Well, how's about some ramen, huh? I'm starving!"

She sensed what he was trying to do and smiled a bit as well. "Yeah! We have cause for a celebration! This time, we'll both have it!"

"I made some money recently so I'll treat us both." The blond announced, feeling his back pocket. 'Yep. Still there.'

"Sure. Why not. Easier on my money!" she wandered into the kitchen and came back five minutes later with two large bowls of ramen, one pork and the other vegetable with red peas. She set the pork in front of her customer and the other beside his own. She then came to the other side of the counter where her bowl was and sat beside Naruto. With a quiet sounding 'Itadikimasu' the pair began to eat in silent contemplation. They had much to be thankful for.

 **Two hours later**

Naruto could be found doing sit-ups in his apartment, trying his utmost at one more but failed. He sprawled up on the ground, panting heavily and sweating profusely. 'Kuso! Three hundred's my limit! Now for push-ups!' he rolled over unto his chest and started doing push-ups. '1…2…3…4…5…'

As he finished somewhere in the low two hundred bracket he collapsed unto his chest, arms feeling like worn rubber. His stamina and biceps had failed him before he could struggle to get another one done. He sighed in resignation. 'Sit-ups must've drained me.' He reached to a nearby chair and pulled himself to his feet before removing the towel laid over the chair's back. He mopped his face with it and wiped his bare upper torso before balling it up and tossing it into the open dirty hamper. It made it inside rim-lessly and the boy did a small fist-pump in pride. He then made his way to the bathroom to shower and clean himself up. His shower was quick and he was in bed, promptly at six p.m. Soon after, he was asleep, tired from his exercise. The boy was anxious to get to bed and rest, eager to get the day over with.

At the hokage's office, a man dressed in red and white robes with a kite-shaped hat with the kanji for 'Fire' on it turned off his crystal ball that was focused on Naruto Uzumaki. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, the Professor, the God of the Shinobi ceased his monitoring of his grandson.

He was not related by blood; rather, they were related by the close bond they shared. It was one of solidarity. Or at least, the old man hoped they still had that.

He felt like he and the boy had been growing apart for years now. There used to be that wonderful feeling of companionship when the boy was younger. But they started growing apart three years ago when the boy turned ten. They were still 'close'. But not as much. He used to be really casual with him; calling him old man and all that. But now, while he called him so every now and again, Naruto would start treating his visits more like business. That was undesirable.

Of late, he had kept a vigil on him, trying to figure out the blond. There was nothing unusual about him. He was almost completely normal.

'Almost' being the keyword, Naruto seemed too normal, which in itself was abnormal.

He ate at the same time everyday, always got around eighty percent in his academics, and being slightly above average everywhere else, exercised shortly before bed, and he always went to sleep early.

This was as 'normal' as 'normal' could get but for Naruto, he was anything but the sort.

"Anbu."

A ninja wearing an animal mask depicting a boar materialized in front of his desk, at full attention.

"Boar, watch Naruto Uzumaki until sunrise."

Inwardly, the anbu sighed. He just had to be the one to get the most unremarkable duty in the world. But he will get it done, as his job description entailed. He nodded once to the hokage and left in a body flicker, one which was a puff of smoke.

 **One week later, Exam morning**

All the students assembled in their classroom promptly at nine. Today were the genin exams and all were nervous/anxious to get it over with. The lesser confident could be seen still studying and the proud were seated, hands crossed. Iruka's class was certainly one that had its own order of society.

Naruto had bags under his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. He had probably spent most of his night studying and training, neglecting to rest his body. The orange jump-suited boy's head was sagging down while he struggled to stay awake. His body finally gave out and he dozed off, head down. He slept for an hour, which was more than enough for his revitalizing stamina.

At 10 a.m., Iruka and Mizuki walked in, papers in hand. "Alright! Everyone prepare for the test!" The two chunin teachers stood in front of the class, scrutinizing them. "I want you to do your best, and no cheating."

Mizuki saw a certain blond who was apparently sleeping. "Someone wake Naruto."

Sakura whose seat placement was beside the Uzumaki saw this as a golden opportunity cracked her knuckles. She was about to rap her fist against the sleeping boy's head when the boy woke up with a deep gasp and grabbed her hand at the wrist. "One hour!" he looked around wildly before getting his bearings together.

He was stared at by the class, giving him unnerving expressions but the teachers were not amused. "Naruto, prepare for the exam. You shouldn't be sleeping at a time like this." Iruka stated sternly while his fellow chunin nodding in agreement.

Uzumaki regained his usual 'bored to hell' demeanor before his eyes closed. "Hai, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka nodded once to the boy. "Alright. Mizuki, help me hand these out." He gestured to the tests. "I'll take this half and you take the other half of the class." The two men walked into the centre aisle and started handing out the tests from the front to the back and from back to the front, working their way to the far ends of the room. When they had completed their task, they made their announcement.

"Begin!"

 **And that's the first chapter. Don't worry about the length, though. All my introductory chapters get that. The average length for this story will be around 5k-7k and the word goal is 75k-100k. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.**

 **Sayonara.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Living Twice: Altering the Present**

 **Here's the second chapter. It's the eighth of October in 2015 at 12:56 pm. I'm typing it on my phone using Google Docs during lunch time. I don't eat lunch though. Lunch is superfluous. Just breakfast and dinner and I'm good to go. Also, as a side note, in chapter one at the top, it says 'Living twice: here and now', that's just there from when I was playing with title names. Ignore it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I own my right to write… err… this fanfiction.**

2.

"Begin!"

He took up his pen/pencil/writing instrument (I don't know what they used, obviously.) and wrote in his name. Suddenly, he squinted at the paper, inspecting it in deep scrutiny. It seemed fine but something felt off. Looking around to the teachers to see if any were looking at him, but fortunately, they weren't. He placed his pen back on the paper to ensure that it would not blow away before bringing his hands together under his desk. He formed the ram seal under the desk and very lightly, performed the genjutsu release.

"Kai." He muttered under his breath.

The paper rippled and suddenly, it was shown to have been upside down. This was made clear when he saw that he had written his name where the bottom of the page was. He shook his head as he retook his pen and crossed it out with a straight line. 'Such a simple genjutsu. By the bottom being at the top and the top being at the bottom, all my answers would have been written upside down and written in all the wrong places.' He thought as he turned the paper around correctly. He wrote in his name on the proper line and started to do his test correctly.

'Who could have done it? Was it Mizuki? He gave me my test. It also could have been during the preparation, while it was being made, someone cast the genjutsu then placed it upside down in the stack. But was it meant that only I would get this particular sheet?'

He looked around at the teachers. Mizuki was looking at the Nara who was apparently sleeping, presumably already finished with his test. Iruka met Naruto's eyes, both staring. Finally, they broke it off and both returned to their respective tasks.

'They handed out the papers in a particular order. And all our seats were prearranged for the test from the start. I am sitting in the sixth place. It would have an elementary thing to just put my paper sixth from the top so I got that paper.' He put in another answer.

'One of these teachers, if not both are out to get me or botch my chances for passing or something.' He purposefully put in a wrong answer at the next question. 'One more incorrect answer and put the rest of them correctly.'

He finished his test easily and put his head down on the desk. He remained in deep thought as paranoia started to plague him. After half an hour later, the teachers announced the exams end and took all the papers before Iruka walked off with them into the back room. He soon returned and shouted at Shikamaru to wake up. After the boy was rudely awakened (Or so the Nara himself complained) Mizuki told them to file outside to the Taijutsu mat and the aspiring genin all complied with order.

 **At the Taijutsu mat**

They all grouped around it with the teachers at the centre, waiting for them to speak. When they were assured that that they had quiet, Mizuki began to talk.

"This year, the academy is doing something different. Normally, the students would fight each other in taijutsu or even the teachers but we have found it more reasonable to do the testing in another fashion. This year, you bunch will fight a jounin."

"What?! How the hell are we supposed to fight a jounin!" a (civilian) boy shouted. Most of the other students mumbled and whispered in agreement.

"Quiet!" Iruka shouted. "Just listen. When we are done explaining, you'll understand."

The students fell silent while someone coughed somewhere in the back. The chunin instructor started to speak again.

"It was noticed that students of different strengths fighting would give the stronger an unfair advantage."

"Like when Kiba took down Roana last week before you could stop it." Someone said loudly.

"Who said that?" Iruka said angrily.

No answer.

Iruka sighed as he continued. "Also, when the aspiring genin fought chunin instructors, while we didn't expect you to win, us chunin have strength, skill, height and weight classes above yours."

Kiba at the front raised his hand. "But this jounin will be an adult, right? Not much of a difference."

"Not the case, Inuzuka." Mizuki spoke up. "He's fourteen and he's your average size."

Said teenage jounin came into being out of a swirl of leaves. He was, as mentioned their height but he was in anbu uniform and wore a blank mask that had the kanji for 'leaf' on the forehead. "This is the bunch. Correct?" he said in monotone.

"Hai." Umino replied, not perturbed for a second. "But do you think it is prudent to fight with armor?"

"…" he removed his armor pads and it was discovered that he was wearing a black vest underneath. He then gave his armor to Mizuki who strode to the edge of the mat with it.

"He will fight you one at a time alphabetically. When he is done with each person, he'll announce your grade, ten being the highest and one being the lowest." The scarred chunin said.

"What about his mask." Naruto asked, trying to look over the crowd of students. "With the mask on, we can't go for face hits."

"…" The anbu jounin performed three handseals in a blur and removed his mask slowly. When he looked up, most of the students gasped.

"His face is blank!" Sakura shrieked. A civilian puked to one side before Naruto spoke up again.

"For the love of Kami, calm down. It's just a very strong genjutsu. He obviously isn't allowed to show his face."

The aspiring genin looked ashamed for a minute before the anbu spoke up. "I'm ready. Who's the first?"

The Aburame walked up to the mat. "That would be me, anbu-san."

Mizuki and Iruka nodded before the Umino took out his marking sheet. "You may begin."

The anbu ran at Shino at low speeds before he reached him and sent a punch to the Aburame's gut. The glasses wearing boy sucked his gut in as the punch got him and grabbed the teenager's arm and wrenched it. The anbu simply went with the arm wrenching motion and did a round house kick at the Aburame's head. The boy had to release the arm to block his head. Without letting up for a second, the anbu leapt up with his remaining foot and kicked Shino in the chest. Shino fell to his back and the anbu righted himself in the air and landed neatly on his own two feet.

Shino got up quickly, and charged the anbu. He threw a feint kick with his left knee and finished it with a full on waist sweeping kick. The anbu was prepared for the action and he caught the leg at the knee and twisted the foot savagely. Shino went with the motion and fell unto the ground on his front.

"8." The anbu dropped the foot and the Aburame started to get to his feet a little shakily. The anbu held out his hand and Shino took it and heaved himself up. He bowed his head at the anbu who reciprocated. Shino then walked back to his place under the tree before he sat down.

"…Next." The anbu said.

All the civilian ninja students went, one right after another. They all got scores going from 2-5. Choji got 7 when his leg started to get twisted before he gave up. Sakura got 6; she quit when she got caught in a painful arm-lock. Hinata went next and got a seven before he got inside her guard, grabbed both of her hands and kicked away her legs at the ankles. Kiba went in soon after and got a nine. He got pinned under the anbu's weight with his arm bent behind him; wrist touching his upper back. Shikamaru actually put in a little effort and got a 6 when the anbu swept his legs out from under him.

Civilians went again now, this time, they were fewer of them, so Sasuke didn't have much longer to wait. The Uchiha smirked to himself. Finally, he would get to test his prowess and how far he has come against an anbu. If he was this young and a jounin, this anbu must have an extraordinary amount of skills. He was probably holding himself back so much it wasn't even funny.

'Like…that man...'

"Alright. Uchiha Sasuke, you're up next." Iruka ordered.

'About time.' He walked up unto the mat, ignoring the squeals of his fan girls. He stood across from the anbu and observed him. 'Hn. That faceless thing he has going on feels intimidating. No wonder the civilians' scores are so pathetic; they must have been scared to touch him.'

He entered the stance for the interceptor fist created by his clan and waited.

"Hajime!" Mizuki announced.

Both teens ran at each other quickly to strike at the other. The anbu, being faster crossed the halfway point first and reached the Uchiha. He used his acquired momentum and sent a blurred fist at Sasuke. The boy countered it by grabbing it at the wrist with his left hand and pulled the anbu forward. In the same motion, he attempted to elbow the anbu in the (invisible) nose, pulling him into it. The anbu was prepared and ducked it, bending his head backward and watched the elbow going over him. The elder then planted his left leg behind the Uchiha and grabbed the Uchiha's holding arm and pulled him along with him, tripping Sasuke backwards. The boy started to fall but kept his grip on the anbu's wrist; both falling together. The anbu wrenched his hand back from Sasuke the second they both hit the floor. (Yeah, irrelevant but I was listening to Linkin Park's 'Hit the floor' when I was typing. I'm not late; I just like to listen to past songs.) He was counting on the fact that when they dropped, the Uchiha's grip would be lessened so he could reclaim his own hand.

Both fighters rolled away from each other and got back to their feet quickly. Sasuke seeing that the anbu's speed was greater settled for defending so when the anbu threw a punch feint, he was prepared for the thrusting shin kick the anbu intended to carry out. He simply moved his foot out of the way and kicked the anbu's leg, right in the calf with the front of his sandal being the inflictor.

The teenager sucked his breath in sharply in pain. Not wasting a valuable opportunity, Sasuke sent a punch to the anbu's solar plexus but he raised his guard in time, using one arm to form a 'v' over his gut. Not yet done, however, Sasuke dealt a rabbit punch through the 'v' that caught him in the chest. The anbu stepped backwards as the punch caught him, lessening the damage from the blow.

"I have seen enough. 9." The anbu said.

Sasuke smirked as he dropped his stance. He bowed head and shoulders to his opponent and the anbu reciprocated the action. Sasuke strode off the mat, the only one so far to leave it without injury or suffering a 'tap out' constraint.

Iruka wrote the number '9' next to Sasuke's name. His eyes then moved down one place to glance at the next name. "Alright. Up next, Uzumaki Naruto."

The blond had retreated to the back of the group during the earlier fights. When the crowd of student's parted to give him way, Iruka saw the boy sitting in a lotus position on the ground with his hands in the handseal for 'Tori'. (Bird)

He slowly opened his eyes and stood up and stretched, joint's cracking. "Hai. I'm coming."

He strode between the students and stepped on the mat, facing the anbu who had already moved back to his place. "I pray that this fight will show me what I'm doing wrong, if any." He whispered.

The anbu barely heard him but he nodded. Both fighters settled into their stances. The anbu in an average low chunin stance while for Naruto's stance, he stood sideways to the jounin, positioning his left foot facing forward towards him with his right foot behind him, pointing to the right. Most of his weight seemed to rest on that leg. His arms were loose, hanging a bit limp at the sides. The anbu studied the stance; he had never seen it before.

"Hajime!" Mizuki started the match.

As usual, the anbu made the first move and charged but Naruto didn't even move as he approached him. The face less man threw a right hook to Naruto's jaw but in an instant, Naruto's hand rose up and pulled it down, wrenching it towards the ground. Not done, he brought up his knee to smash it into the anbu's chest, still keeping his grip on the arm to make sure the anbu didn't try to lessen the impact. The teenager merely blocked the knee with his other arm. The Uzumaki released the arm and as soon as the anbu stood up straight, he made a full 360 degree turn and roundhouse kicked the anbu at the neck. The jounin almost gave a bored vibe as he caught the foot at the ankle with both hands and twisted it. Naruto leapt off the ground with his other leg and went with the twist, now in midair with his back facing the sky. He now used his 'hopping' leg and kicked the anbu in the chest, pushing him backwards from the force, making him let go. Legs now free, he half curled himself and landed on the ground head and shoulders first, performing a perfect Pk roll. Standing back up, he ran at the anbu still getting back up.

He kicked his elder in the shin of his right leg with a thrusting kick, he dropped and sweep-kicked his left leg and the anbu fell back down again. He then proceeded to try and stamp the anbu in the gut but the anbu rolled away from it, barely dodging it. When he was still in the roll, the instant he rolled unto his stomach the second time he pushed off with his hands and feet forcefully, getting back up quickly.

Naruto ceased going after him and resumed his stance. The anbu seemed to hesitate a little before he charged the Uzumaki again, running with his weight close to the ground.

He made a knee feint at the blond but Naruto merely stepped backwards a couple times. By the time the anbu had abandoned the feint and finished with a full-on leg kick, Naruto wasn't in that space anymore.

The boy grabbed the foot of his oppressor and took a move from Sasuke; he kicked the anbu in the thigh with the front of his sandal driving upwards. As the anbu flinched in pain, Naruto used his free arm and elbowed his elder in the shin hard.

The anbu in desperate pain pulled back his foot and tried to stand, barely able to because of the damage dealt to it. Not giving him a chance to recuperate, he pulled away the good leg of the anbu with the crook of his foot (Where the ankles extend to the toes) and pulled away, pushing him down with both arms at the same time. As the anbu toppled to his back, Naruto leapt over the man's prostrate form and grabbed his own ankles; falling with all his weight with his knees, right unto the anbu's stomach.

The anbu made no sound as he got the hit. In fact, it looked as if he was trying to but couldn't because of all of his air being pushed out of his gut at once.

Naruto grunted as he performed a back-flip from off his knees and landed back on his knees, once again in the anbu's stomach. Now, he felt a little guilty for causing him so much pain and got off of him. He could see the man's genjutsu start to ripple a bit, meaning that the pain was starting to make him lose control of it.

He squatted next to the anbu and whispered close to his ear.

"Hey. Control your genjutsu. It's starting to fall apart."

The anbu made no response but Naruto who could start to see green where the man's eyes would fade away again into nothing, showing that he had resumed control over it.

Naruto got back up and lightly stood on the man's uninjured foot. He then pulled up the anbu back up his feet by his hand. The anbu shakily stood up and braced most of his weight on his good leg. He bowed his head and shoulders and Naruto did the same.

"Hai. That's a definite 10." The anbu chuckled.

"Arigatou. But my form and katas was not perfect. I would rather go for a nine, or nine and a half if possible." Naruto stated.

"Nine and a half it is then." The anbu replied.

Iruka, whose eyes were the size of dinner plates from watching the match wrote 9 ½ next to Naruto's name. Everyone else seems to be in similar states. (Except for the usual: Hinata who seemed to be happy for him and blushing, Sasuke who observed it with a bit of begrudging respect, and Shino who only lifted an eyebrow over his shades.)

"How many handicaps were you using?" Naruto questioned, much to everyone's surprise.

The anbu chuckled again amusedly. "Weight seals on all of my limbs, non use of chakra to enhance my attacks or cushioning damage and a low chunin stance. You beat me when I was at roughly fifteen percent."

The others listening on could not believe the amount of debilitations the anbu was using. It did diminish Naruto a little in their eyes, but he had done what none of them had come close to achieving, ('cept for Sasuke) and that was beat the guy, and in such a (very) painful fashion. He was also relatively unhurt.

The anbu limped off the mat and blurred through a set of handseals. A second later, his hand lit up in an ethereal green glow. He ran it slowly over all his injured areas and when he was done, he stood again, as good as new.

Naruto walked off the mat and went under the tree beside Sasuke and resumed his meditative poise. The Uchiha merely watched for a moment before closing his eyes.

The jounin walked back unto the mat. "Next." He said stoically.

Iruka looked back at the list. "Yamanaka Ino."

 **Back in Class, one hour later during Ninjutsu portion.**

Most of the students had already gone over to the 'passed' side of the classroom. They had completed the Ninjutsu portion of their test and all sported their shiny new forehead protectors. Most opted to wear it in the usual fashion (on their foreheads, obviously,) while others wore it around their necks or around their upper arm, i.e. Shikamaru.

Uzumaki sat beside Uchiha and Yamanaka, waiting for his turn. He had the feeling that he was going to fail again but so what. Wasn't going to be the end of the world. At least he put in a good effort this year. Besides, he wasn't too anxious on getting out of the academy to start a career that had a high mortality rate.

He sighed as he looked around at the students who had already passed, noting how happy they are. 'Perhaps I'm in denial. But I certainly won't whoop for joy if I pass but I'm not gonna get all moody if I don't.'

A boy exited from the Ninjutsu testing room excitedly, face beaming as he pointed a thumb at his hitai ate. He half-ran to his friends who had already passed, all boasting. Mizuki who had followed the boy outside gave an almost 'tsk tsk' vibe as he watched them. He turned to the last three examiners.

"Uchiha Sasuke. You're next."

The onyx eyed youth got out of his seat and followed the silver haired man inside the room and shut the door behind him. Two minutes later, he was back out, plus a hitai ate now on his forehead. Seeing that that the exams were almost done anyway, he just sat back in his original seat beside Naruto. The blond lifted an eyebrow at this but said nothing. At the back of his mind, he was wondering where his counterpart's fan girls were, but he realized that almost, if not all of them were now sporting large bruises and welts on their faces and arms from the earlier taijutsu portion. They were no doubt embarrassed and ashamed of them, since Sasuke himself had only one that was near invisible.

Or they were thinking that the bruises were marring their 'good looks'. Either way, Naruto was happy for the peace and quiet.

Mizuki walked poked his head out of the open doorway. "Uzumaki Naruto, you're up next."

He got out of his seat at the beckon and made his way inside. Once in, he closed the door and looked to his teachers, both of which were seated. He could see two forehead protectors in a box close to Iruka on the table. He quickly refocused his attention to Mizuki who had started to speak.

"I need you to do a henge. When you're ready." (Transformation)

Naruto seallessly henged into Shikamaru Nara and yawned in the impersonation, muttering the word 'troublesome. Iruka half expected it though, knowing that the two boys shared a few attitudes.

The blond broke his henge and once again stood at attention, waiting for his next test. He already knew what it was, though.

"Alright. Now, do a kawarimi. Say 'Hai' when ready." Mizuki said.

"Hai." Naruto said immediately.

Iruka took up a senbon sitting in a cup on the table and threw it at the boy's thigh. In a poof of smoke, it was revealed that he had substituted for a chair. Umino sighed in relief. Last year, Naruto had replaced himself with Mizuki. As of consequence, the silver haired man took it in his leg. While impressive to be able to substitute himself for a chunin when he was not yet a genin, he got a lot of flak for the action.

Naruto reentered the room from outside, plucked the needle from the chair then placed the furniture back outside. He then gave back the needle weapon to Iruka, who replaced it back in the cup. The boy then returned back to his place, thoroughly ready to fail. 'Even though passing would be nice.'

"Alright, Naruto. Time for your last jutsu. I need you to perform the Bunshin no jutsu. (Clone technique) Three is the requirement." Mizuki stated.

The boy sighed inwardly. 'Well. That's just how it goes. At least I have all of this year's notes in case I fail. I won't have to take them again but damn! This is getting too god-damned repetitive! I should have tried to find out if I would pass or not.'

He went through the three handseals, ending on dog. "Bunshin no jutsu…"

 **A little later**

He cleaned out his desk, gathering all of his notes together and put them in his knapsack. He then strapped it to his back and prepared to leave but someone stood in his way.

Sasuke Uchiha.

"Naruto."

"Hmm. What'cha want?" he asked evenly. He didn't know what he wanted. 'Perhaps he's feeling smug or something? Nah, he's emotionless."

"How come you're not wearing your headband?"

"I didn't pass."

For a full second, the Uchiha looked almost… surprised. "Why?"

"Bunshin."

"Ah. Did you know that I have problems doing it also?"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "No. I didn't. If you did, how did you pass?"

"I usually use most of my chakra before attempting the jutsu. When I have less chakra, it's easier to control before doing it. As was this morning I used most of my chakra before coming to school and doing the exam."

Naruto thought over what the Uchiha said. The chakra theory made sense. It should be easier to create a jutsu by putting all the chakra you had left in it when running low than to use a tiny amount of chakra when you had too much. But one thing did not make sense.

"So why are you telling me now, when I've already failed? Furthermore, why try to help me at all?" he questioned the raven haired boy.

"If you had mentioned your control earlier, I would have told you. And for the fact that I will have to be placed on a team soon. You're probably the only person here with enough capabilities to make a good teammate. Unlike these others who barely try." Sasuke admitted, before he started to walk away. "You should go talk to the teachers for a second chance or something."

Naruto stared at the retreating boy. That he did not see coming. All he said made perfect sense but he never would have thought the Uchiha had that side to him. He shrugged before he went off in search for one of his chunin teachers. He saw Mizuki first, inside the Ninjutsu test room.

"Excuse me, Mizuki-sensei. I would like to speak to you about something."

"I as well. But you may speak first." He put down his paper work and listened.

"I believe I have found a way to be able to perform the Bunshin technique. Is it possible for me to retake that particular portion of the test, say, tomorrow?"

Mizuki was doing cartwheels in his mind at the incredibly easy opportunity to get what he wanted. "No, Naruto. You can't do this test again. However, there is only another make-up test that is possible at this time."

"I'm listening."

 **Later, around 9 p.m.**

Naruto finally finished reading the jutsu theory thoroughly for the second time. "Alright. So I just form the handseal like so…" He made the modified ox handseal and started manipulating his chakra. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" (Shadow clone technique)

A plume of smoke erupted beside him, out of which a clone emerged. Already sure that the clone was a success, he decided to test it none the less with a fist bump. Both did it at the same time.

Yep; felt pretty solid.

He dispersed the clone and turned back to the scroll. He saw numerous other techniques that barely made any sense to his eyes and most of them had next to impossible requirements or needed scarce resources. Finally, he saw one that said it was a Kekkei genkai evolution accelerator.

"A bloodline limit accelerator?"

 _Speeds up the process of Kekkei Genkai evolution. For example, when Uchiha's have not activated their Sharingans, this technique will activate it, whether if they were destined to activate it or not. It also speeds up the improving process of the bloodline limit. Per say, an Uchiha has a one tomoe state, the technique will advance it two tomoes, then three, all in a matter of weeks, instead of months or relying on fighting strong opponents which isn't always reliable. The technique also grants complete control over their Kekkei Genkai._

 _To perform the technique:_

 _1\. One has to have near zero chakra levels._

 _2\. Perform the twenty handseals listed._

 _3\. Flare their low chakra levels._

 _This will force the user's yang energy to the areas where the Kekkei genkai is used. This technique has a 75% rate of succeeding. It has also been known to reduce the user's life span by twenty to thirty years, whether it works or not._

 _Handseals:_

 _Dragon, Bird, Snake, Dog, Tiger, Boar, Rat, Ox, Dog, Tiger, Hare, Monkey, Horse, Dog, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Dragon, Ram._

The boy's eyes had widened as he read through the whole page. Was what he had a bloodline limit? 'I want to do this on the slim chance that it is a bloodline limit. That's a half-pro. Let's see, cons. I could die from no chakra, lose thirty years of my life and it might not work, on the chance that I don't have a bloodline limit. But it also grant's complete control.'

The boy shrugged before spamming clones, expending most of his chakra into them. After thirty minutes, he felt himself running on fumes before he turned back to the scroll. He quickly read through the seals while doing them, practicing. In another five minutes, he had them memorized.

'Now's for real. You can still back out, Naruto.'

He steeled himself before going through the handseals carefully and steadily. "…Bird, Dragon, Ram!"

The boy flared his near dead chakra levels in a weak pulse. He felt something, almost like electricity in his mind for a second, raising his hopes. But as soon as it came, it left, making him wonder if he did something wrong.

"…Well… shit. At least I can look at the bright side. If I was supposed to die at eighty, now I won't have to worry about saving for a pension." He laughed weakly and dispiritedly.

"Naruto?! What are you doing with the scroll of forbidden jutsu?!" Iruka yelled, dropping from a nearby tree branch and entering the clearing the Uzumaki was in.

Naruto blinked. "I'm just doing the secondary test, Iruka-sensei. You should know about it, after all, Mizuki-sensei said that all the ninja were in on it."

"Secondary test? What secondary test? There's no such thing, Naruto! Kami, what else has Mizuki been saying to you?" Iruka asked the blond, unbelieving.

A large fuma shuriken sailed horizontally through the clearing from behind Iruka. Naruto saw it coming and tackled the scarred man to the ground, making them both lie flat as it passed over them, slicing through more trees, leaving destruction in its wake.

"Oof! Kuso!" Iruka had most of his breath knocked out of him when the blond dove into his stomach. He was about to protest when he saw the weapon sail above him, right where his chest would have been. He quickly rolled the Uzumaki off of him and took out a kunai from his pouch. "Who's there?!"

Mizuki stepped out of the shadows in the trees and smirked. "My, my, Iruka. Don't tell me that you had to be saved by an academy student."

"What's this all about, Mizuki?!" Iruka stepped in front of Naruto as he yelled his question.

"It's an exam exercise. Didn't you know?" he secretly jiggled his right hand, loosening his hidden kunai from it's place inside his sleeve. "We were testing Naruto?"

"Naruto failed. There is no such test, Mizuki!"

His kunai fell into his waiting palm and he threw it at a great speed. Iruka couldn't dodge in time. So he tried to turn a little, the knife taking root in his lung instead of his heart. Still, not looking too good.

"Gah! Mizuki, you… you're a traitor!"

Naruto who had watched the whole exchange now realized what was happening. He was tricked in order to steal the Scroll of forbidden techniques. Now the person who could defend him just took a hit from someone he was inferior to. In short, he was low on chakra and he had to go versus a chunin who was very likely to kill him.

"Naruto, give me the scroll." The silver haired man's tone spoke volumes of seriousness.

Naruto tried to think of a way out. He hoped that the Hokage was watching this and was on his way to help him. He'd better stall. "You're the one messing with my tests, aren't you? Even the one today."

"Yeah. That's right, nine tails."

The Uzumaki frowned. "…Nine tails…?"

Mizuki grinned. "Didn't you know?"

"Don't tell him, Mizuki-teme! It's forbidden!" The man on the ground choked a little on some blood before he spat it out.

"What's forbidden?" Naruto asked, his expression confused.

"When the Kyuubi appeared thirteen years ago, (yeah, I'm making him thirteen instead of twelve) the Kyuubi wasn't destroyed or killed by the fourth Hokage. It was sealed in a newborn infant at the time. That's why you have no parents. That's why you have those whisker marks. That's why everyone hates you. It's because you're the nine tailed fox!" Mizuki shouted. He unstrapped his second fuma shuriken from off his back. "Enough chit-chat. Die!"

He slung the massive shuriken at the boy. Iruka was about to throw himself in front of it when Naruto took a kunai and pushed the chunin out of the way. As the shuriken was about to cleave it's way through the blond, he sidestepped it and stuck the kunai through the shuriken's centre hole. He felt it's driving force getting to be too much to completely stop it so he slammed it into the ground. It started to cut through the soil but after a moment, it stopped and stayed.

The other two chunin were wide eyed.

"What? You can't expect me to learn everything at school, can't you?" Naruto smirked. "Besides, I already had my suspicions about the fox. If anything, I like the whisker marks." Removed his kunai from the shuriken hole and assumed his taijutsu style, with the kunai in a forward grip.

Mizuki took out a kunai and readied his stance as well. "You're getting ahead of yourself. I was going to kill you quickly, but now, I'm going to stab you in every organ, then, I'm gonna drive my kunai through your eyes."

"…Meh, I got nothin' as a comeback." The boy shrugged.

Mizuki sprinted at the boy with his kunai driving forward, fully intent on carrying out his threat. Naruto lifted his own kunai and parried it to his right. As Mizuki start to lose his balance at his diverted velocity, Naruto grabbed the man's arm at the elbow and turned him around fully before pushing him away. He then threw his kunai at the man's back. He had unfortunately missed all his vital organs. The silver haired chunin merely grunted in pain before he reached his free hand behind him and plucked it out.

"Gh!" He turned around and glared at the boy. He gripped the kunai in a fist of iron before he threw it at a terrific speed, aiming for the boy's face. The lad fell flat as it passed over him, the bloody kunai embedding itself in a tree.

Naruto got back up and starting throwing his shuriken at the man but he deflected them all. Soon running out, he noticed the one stuck in the ground from earlier close to him. He pulled it up gingerly before he started spinning around twice, swinging the massive shuriken before he threw it at the traitor but he simply sidestepped it. In a blur, Mizuki had charged the boy and buried his foot in Naruto's gut. The Uzumaki gasped for air weakly before he tried to press on, grabbing the foot at the ankle and turning it on the inside. The man went with the turn and fell flat on his face with Naruto still holding his leg. Before he could lash out with his second leg, Naruto lifted his own leg and drop-kicked the man on the ground with his heel, right into the small of his back.

"Gahh!"

Naruto finished twisting the man's foot, finally feeling satisfied when he heard a 'crack.' The man yelled in pain before he finally kicked away the boy, who fell unto his back. The man got back up painfully and unsteadily unto his good leg before he shuffled over to the boy. He took out his last kunai and plunged it down at the boy's heart.

The boy poofed away into a log, making Mizuki give a small yelp in surprise. He was about to go search for him but the boy fell out of a nearby tree ungracefully in a heap on the ground.

Naruto was panting heavily. It took all the chakra he had left to perform the substitution and his body had given out on him. Mizuki rocked his kunai out of the log and smirked before shakily making his way over to the boy.

Said boy was staring wide eyed as his about to be killer come over to him, only to be stopped by Iruka who grabbed his foot.

"What the… Iruka, let me go!" The traitor said angrily, trying to pull away.

Iruka mumbled something incomprehensible. Mizuki, finally having enough stabbed the man in the back, right where his heart would be.

Iruka grunted weakly. He looked over to Naruto and mouthed 'I'm sorry.' The light faded from his eyes as Naruto stared in disbelief as his former teacher murder another.

Mizuki was still caught in a dead-man's grip but he shrugged it of easily and callously. Naruto felt something start to stir inside him as his visage became more feral; his whisker marks deepened and his eyes red and slitted.

He found new found strength in his chakra coils and the boy got to his feet, thoroughly befuddled why this was so. He looked at his hands to see them with extended nails, resembling claws. The boy frowned as he looked up once more at Mizuki who was startled at the boy's intimidating feral looks. The boy snapped before he snarled in anger.

In a blur, the boy disappeared and reappeared behind the man, slashing at his neck with his claws, releasing a red torrent. Not done, he kicked the man at his earlier stab wound, making the man face plant. The boy grasped both of the man's legs and swung him three times in a circle, his blood splashing around them with perfect radius before he flung the man against a tree. At the last second, Mizuki had turned himself so his back would impact it instead of his head.

He slid down it in a heap, his life-liquid now running down his body and dying his clothes a deep shade of crimson. Naruto picked up the man's kunai and over to the man and picked him up by the shoulder, pressing most of his weight against the tree. He then started stabbing the man repeatedly in a hellish fury while screaming in anger, as if it would bring his teacher back to life.

The man had already died from the fifteenth stab but the boy kept going, the front of the boy's orange jumpsuit now stained red and bloody, as was his stabbing hand. His rage continued well into the sixtieth stab before he plunged the kunai through the man's right eye socket, driving it all the way to the back of the tree, hanging him there. His eye fluid mixed with blood flowed out of the socket down his cheek, resembling tears.

Naruto backpedaled slowly from the bloody scene as he came down from his emotional high. When the hokage and two anbu showed up three minutes later, they found the boy slumped against another tree, watching his shaking, bloody hands.

 **And that's my spin on the first episode. Hope the last scene shows why this fic is rated M. (Sighs.) I also hope this chapter was well worth the wait for it. If you're still curious how he knows future events, I'll make sure you know soon. But not sooner than necessary.**

 **I should've mentioned this earlier, but read this with an open mind. Fic writers usually have Naruto come into his own with his abilities in Shippuden, but I haven't any intention of going that far. Well, maybe there might be an epilogue or two in that general timeline, but that's besides the point. I only introduced the idea of the Bloodline Accelerator to further his abilities by the time the fic ends. I thought it had some logic to it.**

 **As for his clones: 2- I'm still not too sure about the complications of this, but for many people, in order for someone to create the shadow clones, they expend chakra into it, but get it back when they disperse. That just never sat right with me. 'Cause if that was the case, everyone could create shadow clones without worrying about the taxing it does…the chakra would go back to them. So, for me, spend your chakra and create clones. (I also believe that there's a set amount of chakra needed to make a shadow clone, like a constant requirement. Like spending money. A clone costs fifty cents, when genin have ten cents, chunin have a dollar, jounin have ten, and Naruto has…well, he's rich.) Also, I believe that in some cases, when your chakra hits zero, the clones disperse. At least for this story anyway. Please review and tell me what you think. That's all folks.**

 **Sayonara.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Living Twice**

 **I'm going to be frank. When I put up my first short story with the Hanabi pairing (G.P.H.L.), I wasn't expecting a lot of views. Now, I put up an unusual pairing (Kin) [I like to read every once in a while] and everyone's just flocking to it. It's passed G.P.H.L. in popularity in just two chapters.**

 **Wow.**

 **Thanks for reading now let me move on.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I own my ideas, some of which may seem based of something but it's still unique. If you do, however, find something like it, let me know so I can amend this disclaimer.**

 **3.**

The Sandaime Hokage's flickered to all three people in the clearing. Two of them were corpses while all three were blooded, particularly Mizuki. The corpses did not hold his attention for long, though.

Instead, it was centered on Naruto who was in some type of catatonic shock who still hadn't acknowledged his or the anbu's presence. The boy was just sitting there, as he had just witnessed a murder, which in fact he practically had.

He strode over to the boy while motioning to the two anbu to check Iruka for a pulse and to remove Mizuki. Reaching the boy, he did what medical and psychology books have told him to do.

He sat beside the boy in the grass at the foot of the tree. Let Naruto speak first. When it showed that he was capable of speech, then he would speak to him.

Hiruzen looked out in front of him, watching the two anbu look over Iruka before shaking their heads to him. The man sighed as he waved at them, signaling them to take the man to the morgue. They did and soon returned and checked Mizuki's carcass. At first they were fussing over how to remove him from his spot on the tree without making it worse.

That's when they realized that it couldn't get any worse for the man. With a grunt, one of them yanked out the kunai pinning up the man to the tree and shunshinned away with him as well. They returned in five minutes and picked up every weapon on the ground. In a matter of minutes, besides the crimson smears on the ground and the bloody Uzumaki, there was nothing unusual in the clearing.

It's been three hours. Sarutobi had long since dismissed the anbu and waited patiently beside Naruto. It was now midnight, the start of Saturday morning but he was a man of patience. Besides, if Naruto could stay still and watched his own hands for three hours and he as a kage couldn't, he no longer deserved the title.

"Ir…Ir… he killed Iruka-s-sensei."

Hiruzen looked to him, waiting expectantly. He knew what was coming next.

"A-and then I k-killed M-M-Mizuki…" He looked at his hands and as if he just noticed that they were bloody, he tried to wipe them on his clothes. When he realized that his clothes were also bloodied with Mizuki's life, he started to furiously wipe his hands on the grass but the blood was already dry.

"It's my fault." The Sandaime stated as he watched the boy's actions. "If only I had arrived sooner, this could have been prevented. I had some difficulty finding here because there is nothing outstanding to this location."

"I must really be a d-demon. I-" He started to stutter.

"Naruto-kun. Stop. You are **not** a demon. You merely hold the beast back at bay. You are it's prison, you are it's master, you-"

"Used it's power to kill a handicapped teacher."

"Mizuki was about to kill you. Were you going to let him kill you?"

"No! Of course not! If only I had my chakra at the time… and beaten him up or something. Or… if I had tried to find out-"

"Naruto. Perhaps you should come to my home and sleep instead. Perhaps it would benefit you more if you weren't alone right now." The hokage stood up and held out his hand to the boy.

Naruto watched him for a moment before grasping the man's hand. As soon as he did, they both disappeared in a body flicker, one that was a swirl of leaves.

 **Next Morning**

Naruto's eyes snapped open suddenly, as was his habit everyday to awake at this time. He already registered where he was the second he saw the ceiling. He knew what was happening once more.

His memory kicked in about what happened the night before. His body slightly ached in soreness as he remembered _stabbing a dead man_. The man had no identity to him. He was just another person; didn't matter if he was good or bad. He knew all the speeches that would be given him, all the 'condolences' for Iruka. He might as well get breakfast and the sooner he got this day over with, the sooner he could get to training. Now that he had killed, his ninja career had taken off, he could train without repercussions for training in regimens beyond that of his class in the open.

He kicked off the sheets and leaned over the edge unto his feet. He immediately left the room and made his way to the kitchen to have breakfast. It would be his second time so he knew where to go, not getting lost or wandering into the wrong rooms along the way. Finding the kitchen, he plopped down in an empty seat in between the older man with brown hair and a goatee and a little boy who had was still changing teeth. He already knew their names but if they were going through introductions (again) he would just roll with it.

"Ohayou Naruto. How did you sleep?" The elder asked, putting down his booklet.

"Like the usual." The blond grunted. The man took that as a good sign that he was over his shock.

"Naruto, huh?" The little boy said. "Mornin' Naruto. Name's Konohamaru."

"Ohayou Konohamaru."

The man with the goatee got up and started preparing breakfast. "Did you stumble your way into our rooms on accident coming here Naruto?"

"No Asuma-san."

The man lifted an eyebrow. "How did'ya know my name?"

"You're well known in the village." Naruto lied smoothly.

"Oh? Well, good for me, huh? I'm popular." The Sarutobi chuckled as he quickly prepared some soba noodles and eggs and dished it out to the two boys, as well as some for himself, before seating himself again.

Naruto frowned a bit, staring at the soba. It was his least favorite noodle type and he has to go through it now…for the second time. He shrugged and started eating, hurrying to get it over with and out of the way. Soon finished, he placed his dish in the sink. He was going to have to be 'ignorant' for a few hours. Nothing he couldn't handle.

"So, Sarutobi-san?"

"Hmm?" Asuma looked up from his meal.

"Can I have my clothes? I can't just go out in underclothes that I slept in."

"That's going to be a problem. We disposed of your bloody jumpsuit."

"So what am I going to wear then?" He snorted.

"I'm sure I can find something around here you can try on. At least until we get you to the nearest ninja clothing store. Besides, if you have any more orange jumpsuits at home like the one you were wearing, get rid of them too."

"Oh yeah, I will. I definitely will."

 **Two Hours later**

Naruto and Asuma completed their journey to the ninja service establishment, one of them gratefully. The younger of the pair wore a jacket and pants two sizes too big and the cuffs he had put into them were beginning to come undone. As if the clothing wasn't already cumbersome and awkward enough to begin with.

They pushed the door in and entered, allowing the smell of brand new clothing and lubricating oil to hit their nostrils. The store was relatively empty of other patrons so they just made their way to the front desk and tapped the bell waiting on it.

"Hello?!" Asuma called. "I'd like some service!"

"Coming!" A girl's voice sounded from the back. Almost immediately, A twin-bun haired girl entered through a door behind the counter came up to the two males. "Welcome to Higurashi's Shinobi Supplies!" She welcomed.

"Hey Tenten." The Sarutobi greeted. "I came down to get Naruto here some things to prepare himself to be a ninja." He gestured to the boy by patting him on the head. "And get him some new clothes."

The girl smiled at the blond. "Naruto… is it? I heard of you before."

"Good things, I hope?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"Well… they said you were so quiet most people didn't know what you sounded like." The Higurashi smirked. "I guess I should count myself lucky."

"Let's begin shopping, shall we?" Asuma suggested to the children.

One half hour later, Naruto was dressed in a dark blue close fitting shirt with a v-neck and long sleeves that were slack around the elbows. Black ankle length pants went far in completing the look and gray sandals that rounded it all off nicely. (1)

He had a small backpack on his back that he placed his mesh armor inside to carry home, as well as a set of fifty shuriken, thirty kunai, and eighty yards of ninja wire on a spool, ten C ranked paper bombs and five B ranked ones. He had everything sorted out in different pockets in said backpack and with the even distribution, the bag felt right at home on his back.

"Now for a weapon!" Tenten slightly squealed in her excitement but stopped when she saw the patrons staring at her. "What? I just…like weapons, okay? Sheesh." She waved her hand dismissively before she turned to Naruto.

"What kind of weapon would you like to use?" She took his hand and stretched it while feeling his biceps. "Good definition. A strength type o' guy?"

"Umm." He retracted his arm and started to think about how he stabbed Mizuki full of holes. "Something…blunt?"

"Tonfas? Iron Knuckles? Hammers? Staffs?"

"Um… hmm. Let me see your staffs."

She led him to the back rooms to look over their merchandise of staffs which was quite impressive. She showed him staff after staff but nothing really appealed to him. His mind started to wander back to when the Hokage asked if he would have let Mizuki kill him. He didn't want to kill anyone but sooner or later he would need to. It was his profession. Besides, he knew what he wanted.

He decided to speak up. "Is there anything that's both blunt and sharp at the same time? Anything?"

She stopped what she was doing and looked up to her forehead in thought. "Well, I think I have a tonfa with a blade on one side-"

"No! No. Err, something else."

"To be honest, we got something experimental from the Land of Iron two years ago. No one wanted it."

"Well? What is it, Tenten?" Asuma asked.

"It's like some kind of folding blade. Let me ask tou-san if he knows where it is." She ran back to a door that apparently lead into her living quarters while the males waited on her return. A few minutes later, she returned with a relatively small box in her palm before she removed the cover. She took it out and held it in her hand. It was like an oversized rectangle-shaped handle with slight palm grips on either side. It was about six inches long.

That was it.

Asuma gave a disbelieving air. "That's it? Where's the rest of it?"

Tenten firmly gripped it before she swung it down rapidly. The 'rest' of the weapon extended out by two feet, thick at the bottom and small at the top. On one side, it was rounded off and blunt but the other side was sharp to a decent degree. It was like a long one-edged sword with a really blunt opposite side. (Stretch your index finger straight and keep it like that while touching the top flat of your thumb against the top flat of the index. The shape it creates shows the sharp part versus the blunt end, in actual size.) (2)

"That's…new?" The man with the goatee remarked, observing the development.

"I like it!" Naruto exclaimed. It would suit his intents and purposes perfectly. "How much?"

"I asked tou-san about it and he said he had clean forgotten about it. He says you can have it for half price. That's still eight thousand ryo."

Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth when his jaw dropped. " **That** thing was **sixteen thousand ryo**?!"

"Yeah!" Tenten smiled cheerfully. "It's made with some expensive alloy to guarantee durability. Besides, chakra can be infused into it. That's always a good thing. Right?"

"Uhh… I don't have that much on me…" Asuma scratched the back of his head while he pick up his cigarette off the ground. "I'll be back in around five minutes." He quickly shunshinned away in a puff of smoke, leaving the children to stand around awkwardly in his absence.

"So… uh, used anything like this before?" The blond asked.

"No. never. If you're going to learn, you'll probably need a sword user and a baton user or something." She shrugged.

Four minutes later when the man came back, he patted his back pocket. "Alright. I think I've got enough to cover the whole sum."

They walked back to the front desk where the brown eyed girl retrieved a calculator and the two patrons crossed back to the correct side of the counter. As soon as they were settled, Tenten added up the prices.

"Okay, let's see. Kunai… shuriken… bombs…" She punched the buttons in the buttons on the calculator while she announced the items. "…Wire…and… uh… that half blade thing." She pressed the equal symbol and the price was totaled. "That's twenty three thousand, eight hundred and ten ryo."

"Good thing it's not my money." Asuma counted out the money exactly when Naruto stopped him by holding his hand out in front of him.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Just give her the full twenty four thousand. Like a tip."

"A tip?" The man smirked. "Do you like this Tenten, Naruto?"

The boy was not about to be embarrassed (the second time.) "Yeah. She's nice."

Asuma now realizing his tease had no effect merely grumbled to himself before handing over the money to the blushing girl. "Whatever."

Naruto took up the tactical weapon from off the counter. "Arigato, Tenten. See you around."

"Uh… ja ne." She turned around stiffly before disappearing into the back room again, muttering something about blonds.

Naruto merely sighed. "Well, that's that. I'm just gonna go home to drop the things off and then go visit jiji." He was about to leave the shop when Asuma grabbed his shoulder.

"Let me provide you are less time consuming alternative." Both people left in a large puff of smoke and appeared outside Naruto's apartment building. Naruto thanked the man before running inside the building with his pack. A short minute later he returned outside and Asuma promptly body flickered them to the Hokage's tower.

 **With the Hokage**

The aged Sandaime sighed as he stroked his forehead in, trying to chase away the growing headache. And Naruto was the source of it all.

'Naruto had learned the Shadow clone technique in a mere hour. The boy is practically a prodigy. And he took down a chunin, albeit violently. Even one of the Hyuuga anbu told me that he used the Kyuubi's chakra in the final moments. But that's not what's important. Naruto described to me last night that he was fighting with pure taijutsu and bukijutsu. When he used a substitution that drained the remnants of his chakra, he refused to tell me what had caused him to be at near zero in the first place. In any case, I am pleased to know that he will be a ninja, and I am happy to help in anyway I can, be it emotional support or even financially. Although I wonder why my son wanted more mon-'

A puff of smoke came into being in the room, signaling someone's entry. He looked up, knowing that it was Asuma when he sensed for the person's chakra signature. The smoke cleared to reveal said person.

"Just dropping Naruto off. He said he wanted to see you."

"Ohayou again, Asuma. You can leave. If anything, Naruto can explain some things."

"Whatever." The Sarutobi rolled his eyes before leaving again in smoke.

"So, Naruto," the hokage turned to the thirteen year old. "How are you feeling now?"

"I feel… better. I'm not quite at a full 100% but I'm better."

The man sighed in relief, his headache starting to disappear already. "That's good to hear. I provided some money for you to get some supplies-"

"About that jiji. Am I a ninja now?"

Hiruzen chuckled. Naruto was somewhat more friendly with him. Perhaps it was because of the bonding they had done recently. "Hai, Naruto-kun. In fact, here is your headband." He reached inside his desk and fished out a headband with a blue cloth and tossed it to him deftly. "Congratulations. Your one step closer to being Hokage."

Naruto caught the headband and looked at the leaf insignia. "Hokage, huh?" He placed it on his forehead and tied it behind his head. "Perhaps."

"If not a Hokage, then what?" The man used to hear the boy proclaim about being kage up until three years ago. Did he have a new dream?

"… A person who always makes the right decision, based on knowledge that has been passed from before." He had rehearsed his answer.

"Is that so? Making decisions based on others past experiences?"

"No. Decisions based on mine."

Sarutobi was befuddled. The boy was only thirteen years old. How much experience did he really have to make wise and informed decisions?

"Regardless, jiji, I want to say thank you for paying for my supplies. Especially for the last weapon."

"What was it?"

Naruto described it to him and how it worked in a nutshell. "…And one side's sharp and the other is blunt."

"I see. Will you name it?"

"Hai. I'll think of something soon enough. Everything cam to twenty-four thousand ryo, by the way."

His jaw dropped a little. "Why is it so expensive."

"It would have been more expensive if I wasn't given a fifty percent discount. That's what they told me anyway. Besides, I'll pay it back when I get a high ranking mission pay, huh?"

Hiruzen chuckled twice. "No need. My own account is quite sizeable after all these years of saving. I don't even really make purchases that often anymore."

"Is that so? Well, my home needs a little renovating then, if you don't mind."

"Perhaps in a fortnight. Get some planning done and such."

Naruto bowed a little, head and shoulders. "Arigatou, gramps." He broke out in a grin, one that was reciprocated by the hokage.

 **Monday morning**

He sat down in his usual seat, bored as usual. Everyone jostled around excitedly, sporting their headbands in their respective places. Most were conversing loudly about how they were going to be the best, yelling who was better than who and so on.

The door opened slowly and all eyes turned to see Sasuke Uchiha wearing his usual stoicism on the outside. The last Uchiha saw fan girls swarming his usual seat, waiting on him to sit in anticipation. He groaned internally before sitting beside Naruto. When all saw his action, it was then they took notice of Naruto's presence.

Naruto started to count in his mind. '3…2…1… cue Inuzuka.'

"Naruto?! What the hell are you doing here?! You failed the test Friday, idiot! This is just for people who are real ninja!"

Naruto had rehearsed his answer. He grinned, giving off a feral vibe."I am a real ninja. But if you want to know how I passed, wait three minutes."

"What the fuck does that mean?!" Kiba yelled the question.

"Kiba, be patient. We shall see what he means when three minutes have flown." Shino said quietly, placating the boy. Everyone shrugged and decided to wit as well. Something had always been strange about Naruto. Perhaps today they could get some answers.

Sasuke closed his eyes. "So you passed, huh."

"Yeah. Your advice was useful but it wasn't what I used."

"Is that so? What did you do?" The coal eyed youth asked.

"Two and a half minutes."

"Hn."

Exactly two and a half minutes later, a puff of smoke erupted behind the teacher's desk at the front of the class. When it cleared, it revealed the taijutsu testing anbu from Friday.

"It is now 9 a.m. Get to your seats." He said in monotone.

Everyone who were standing or seated inappropriately quickly got to their correct seats, thoroughly intimidated. When they were all settled, the anbu began to speak again.

"I will speak only once. I will not repeat myself pertaining to any matter that is controversial. If anything is unclear, seek clarity elsewhere."

Everyone nodded in response.

"I have been commissioned by the Hokage and one Naruto Uzumaki to bring some issues to light. It was to be done in the hopes that all of you would rid yourselves of complacency and childish ways for the life of the Shinobi is riddled with death, lies and…betrayal. Only a few details were to be spared."

He threw a kunai blurring quick that took root in Shikamaru's desk, right next to his head. The boy was jolted awake by the sudden action.

"As in that case, he could have been killed in his slumber." The anbu continued.

Suddenly, everyone else who had started to zone out were back at full attention.

"On Friday, Mizuki, your chunin teacher deceived Naruto Uzumaki to steal the Scroll of Forbidden Techniques for him to pilfer. Before the scroll could change hands, Iruka Umino found Naruto trying to learn a technique from said scroll. Iruka scolded him for stealing it, just before Mizuki arrived to claim the scroll from the pair. When Mizuki threw a kunai that mortally injured Iruka, that was when they realized that Mizuki was betraying the village. While Iruka had to sit out the fight, Mizuki and Naruto fought it out with little more than pure Taijutsu. When Mizuki was finally gaining the upper hand, Iruka tried to stop Mizuki from killing Naruto by holding unto him."

Everyone leaned forward, eyes getting bigger and bigger as the anbu told the tale.

"Mizuki finished off Iruka by stabbing him in his back, right into his heart. When Naruto saw Iruka killed, he killed Mizuki by stabbing him…"

"…Over fifty…" Naruto said.

"Over fifty times in his upper torso, before stabbing Mizuki through his eye and staking him to the tree in his rage."

Everyone gave the blond a horrified look before they tried to inch away from him, sans Sasuke.

"This is why none of your teachers are present. Iruka is now buried and Mizuki is now ashes. The reason for this recount is to make it clear that you understand what kind of life you're getting into. Being a ninja is not fun and games. To be completely straightforward, we kill for a living. All who think this is too much for them to handle, please leave now."

Everyone looked to each other, a bit unsure. Slowly, Roana got out of his seat and strode out of the class. With his exodus, more and more of the students trickled out until only eighteen students remained.

"If that is all, I shall now read the teams with their respective squad numbers along with jounin senseis. There will be some improvisation for teams broken with loss of some team members."

He quickly announced teams from memory recall to the silent class. "Next is team seven. Uchiha, Uzumaki and Haruno. Team eight is Hyuuga, Aburame and Inuzuka. Team nine is in circulation. Team ten is Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi. Your senseis will come to fetch you at times of their own choosing in this room."

He looked over the class through his mask before he nodded. "Good day." He left in a puff of smoke.

Most of the students started to breathe more easily in the anbu's leave. They all looked to Naruto who still retained a bored look.

"Now you know why, Inuzuka. Find anything wrong? Something unclear?"

"I… don't believe it. Besides, you still can't even create a decent clone! You think you're hot stuff?! You're still shit!"

Most of the girls were hesitant and no one agree with Kiba, Sakura mostly. She started to wonder if he would kill her, seeing that she always tried to hit him. He would have plenty of chances, now that they were on the same team. She wasn't even feeling celebratory knowing that she would be on Sasuke's team.

Naruto formed the cross ram handseal and formed a clone out in the walkway beside Kiba. "You were saying?"

"Feh! It's just one!"

Naruto nodded to the clone, who nodded back in response. The clone decked Kiba in the face right below his eye, making the boy fall back unto his butt.

"Stay down." The clone said before it reached its hand to his head and snapped his own neck, dispersing in smoke.

Kiba was too frightened to even move from his spot on the floor. Hinata from where she was sitting was saddened by Naruto's actions, starting to think he was just a killer. Shino merely raised an eyebrow while Sasuke was… intrigued.

"That's new."

"Yes it is, Sasuke. Yes it is."

 **Three hours later**

The door slid open to reveal a jounin with a face-neck mask and spiky silver hair that styled upwards and to the side. He also wore his hitai ate over his left eye, covering up his face by a fair 75%. His right eye looked over the remaining three students who were waiting for him. Naruto was spinning a kunai on his fingertips to improve his chakra control, Sasuke was sitting beside him with his hands balled under his chin and Sakura sat behind Sasuke, reading.

"Hmm. Looks like a quiet bunch. Team 7, meet me on the roof." He promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The students heaved themselves up and filed out to the roof, Sasuke in the lead. When they arrived there, they saw their supposed sensei waiting on them with his hands in his pockets.

"Kon-nichi wa, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto called to him when he was hailing distance.

"How do you know my name?" The man replied the question.

The genin finished closing the distance and sat on the steps in front of the jounin. "You're very well known." He lied.

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye, detecting the lie. 'Why would he lie? How does he really know?' "That's fine." He stated, not betraying his thoughts.

"As you all just heard, my name is Kakashi Hatake. We will have some introductions. Who's first?"

"Why don't (Lets just skip this 'Sakura's embarrassing question' and Kakashi's lack of info, shall we?)

"…and dreams and aspirations... I don't want to tell you. Now it's your turn pinky."

"Hmph. My name is Sakura Haruno. I like-" She looked over at Sasuke and blushed heavily. "I dislike…" She glanced at Naruto and hesitated. "Ino-pig. My hobbies are…" She looked at Sasuke with her peripherals. "Making scrapbooks and reading. And my dream is-" She now squealed a little.

"O…k… I'm almost sorry I asked. Brooder, you're up."

"Hn. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like to train. I dislike fan girls. My hobbies and likes are the same. My dream-no…ambition is to kill Itachi."

"A little dark." Kakashi sighed. Blondie, you're next."

"My name is Uzumaki. And you would be wise to remember, Hatake." He said evenly.

His visible eye narrowed before he relented. "Fine. You call me by name and title, I'll call you yours. Naruto, introduce yourself please."

"Arigatou. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like to be well informed and surrogate family members like Ayame-nee and Hokage-jiji. I dislike those who are biased towards me. My hobbies include making changes to disastrous events, training and other things. My dream is to be wise and always make the best decisions." He said with a small smile.

"It's impossible to always make the right decision." Hatake remarked with a small sigh. 'My time with Obito and Rin is proof of that.'

Naruto smirked. "It is. All you need is a little foresight. Now, what's next, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi coughed into his hand to clear his throat. "The test you did Friday was merely a screening process to see who would and could be genin material. You still have another."

"Say what?" Sakura nearly yelled.

"Uh huh. You have to pass the respective jounin's test. Each of us jounin have our own exam and mine is a bell test."

"Elaborate please." Naruto said.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. And don't eat any breakfast tomorrow or you'll puke."

"Meh." "Hn." "What?!"

Kakashi eye smiled. " Test starts at seven a.m. Ja ne!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

They all stood up and straightened themselves with a small stretch. "Well, that's that." Naruto said. "Lets all go home and get some sleep. Rest ourselves."

"Who died and made you team leader?" Sakura asked.

"Who _died?_ " Naruto asked back the question.

"Uh… never mind." She shook her head quickly. Sasuke merely grunted before he ran and jumped off the roof at the third storey and landed nimbly, going home. Naruto did the same by swallow diving off the roof at the adjacent corner, flipped in midair and landed on his feet before performing a perfect pk roll, sprinting home.

Sakura sighed. "I wish I could do that." She took the 'normal' way down the stairs and made her way home as well.

At home, Naruto finally gathered his things together and changed into something casual. He then placed his last two identical (kerosene laced) jumpsuits in a trashcan outside before dramatically striking a match and dropping it in it. The contents inside the bin burst into flames with a flare.

"After the flames die, ashes will be all that remains…" He said quietly.

He walked back into his house and pressed his new outfit before fashioning a small holster inside his weapons pouch for his new tactical weapon. He had a simple dinner before going to bed at six, just as usual.

 **That's chapter three. I intended to leave the test 'till next chapter anyway so no frowning! Now for those numbers.**

 **1- This is practically the same outfit from my other story 'Breaking Limits'. Keeps things simple, flow easy and the fact that I love how the outfit comes together in my mind.**

 **2- It's just a tactical baton that is a bit flat. One side's sharp like a cleaver and the other side is perfectly blunt. I'm not basing it on Zabuza's Decapitating Carving Knife, it's just that I always see Naruto using blunts over sharps given his personality, but he would need a blade for this story. Everything evened out. Besides, when I used to play Watch Dogs, I liked to see some of the takedowns Pearce did. (And hacking a sign that said '** _ **Tactical baton to the knee.'**_ **That just guaranteed my love for the weapon.)**

 **Thanks for reading folks and don't forget to review.** _ **Don't forget. Do it now.**_

 **Sayonara.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Living Twice**

 **You've waited for it patiently and I don't like to disappoint. Although right now I'm fighting off a bout of asthma at present. Anyway, I hope that you'll enjoy the chapter and if you haven't already done this, I hope you'll check out my other stories. They're a good read…err, or so I've been told.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would've been a lot more blood and gore.**

 **Quote: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. – Proverbs 22:3, KJV [Bible]**

 **I'm not sure a quote will be a regular thing but this verse seemed pretty suitable for this story. Thought I might as well drop it in.**

 **4.**

His eyes snapped open suddenly and flickered around the room, taking in every detail at once. As soon as he gathered his bearings, he slid off the bed to one side and got to his feet. A second later, his clock changed to **6:00 am** and the alarm rung. Before it could annoy him, he turned it off.

He stretched while yawning and made his bed quickly before moving on to the kitchen. After a fairly brisk breakfast and some strong unsweetened coffee, he promptly went to his wardrobe.

He opened the doors dramatically and imagined that light was shining on the outfits inside, despite himself. He quickly donned the mesh armor over his under shirt before he put on his new clothes. He looked himself over in the mirror, satisfied with what he saw. He looked over to the clock to see only half an hour had passed.

"Well, he's gonna arrive at ten am. I have heaps of time. I just need to…" He smirked a little. "…arm myself."

He quickly got his weapons and put on its usual place, the weight of his new weapon making it feel comfortable. Lastly, he put on his backpack, filled his toad wallet with money and ran out of his apartment. Although he had plenty of time, he had none to waste.

He quickly ran to a tumble down house in his district and made his way inside, dodging fallen beams and boards with rusty nails on the floor. He went into the bathroom where there were broken toiletry furnishings and shower. Reaching for the broken shower rail, he finished yanking it out of the wall and started smashing it against the ceramic tiled walls and floors, breaking the tiles into bit-sized pieces.

He grunted as he went about the job, almost akin to a wild animal. In two short minutes, he had enough for his purposes. He swept them all up together with his foot into a pile before he took out a tin out of his backpack and scooped up all of the preferred pieces inside, which was still more than enough.

Having what he needed, he put the tin back in his bag and left the house before sprinting to the Higurashi's shop to get his next 'ingredient.'

He pushed open the door and stepped inside. He felt déjà vu hit him strongly as he inhaled the smells but he ignored it. Déjà vu hit him too often.

He rung the bell three times and waited patiently. A minute later, a burly man stepped out of the back room and strode to the counter. It seemed that with every step closer the man made, Naruto felt like he was going to get pushed out of the shop due to displacement. The man was all muscle and built like a mountain.

"Ohayou, young man. What can I do for you?"

"Ohayou. I would like some explosive tags please." Naruto replied in request.

The man stroked his chin with the back of his hand. "Well? What kind of paper bombs? We have from A ranked through to D's."

"What's the lowest grade that can still kill or maim?"

"My opinion? C. The D ranks, honestly, feel like little more than firecrackers to me. The C's have a decent blast radius with enough force to blow a man's legs off. Or his head."

"Is that so?" Naruto took out his wallet and emptied out the bills inside. "How much of those tags can this get me?"

The man scrutinized the pile and sifted through it. He finally pushed back forty ryo back to Naruto. "The rest here can get you eight of them. Five second fuse when chakra activates them."

"I'll take it, Higurashi-san."

The man took up the money and put it inside the register before he took down a box behind him from off a shelf. He opened it and took out the explosives and gave it to Naruto. "Here you go. Take it and welcome."

The Uzumaki took them from the man. "Arigatou."

No sooner than he had taken them from the man, he ran out of the shop, leaving the man to wonder if the young man was the one who had gotten the baton.

'The outfit is the same thing I sold that day and the same person who got the weapon got the clothes at the same time.' He mused. He shrugged in indifference before going back to his forge.

Naruto was sprinting through the early morning streets, adding his own flair to it by doing vaults when necessary and flips when showing off. The dawn of the day was chilly but by the time he had arrived to his next destination, he was warm from his exertions.

He walked casually into the next shop, one that had a large sign at the front with the kanji for 'Crafts and Toys.'

The owner inside was a senile old man whose vision was going. (Naruto's whiskers were probably blurred out of focus.) The blond merely said his pleasantries before ordering eight rubber balls (2x tennis ball size) that were hollowed out and a large bottle of glue. Quickly paying twenty ryo for it, he went straight home again but went to the roof.

And then he began to create his homemade...

He took out one of his kunai and sliced a neat circular hole in the top of the ball. With that done, he took out his tin of broken ceramic tile pieces and opened the lid of it. He then proceeded to pour a little glue inside the ball. He then poured a considerable amount of the tile pieces into the ball and swirled it around until he could no longer hear any loose ones making noise. The glue was enough to make them all stick to the inside.

He then took out an explosive tag and read the seal on it. Apparently, there was a five second fuse and the knowledge merely made him smirk widely. He balled up the tag before he wrapped in some aluminum foil paper and dropped it back inside the ball before he glued the top of the ball back in its place and wiped away the excess adhesive. The ball now seemed ordinary once more; nothing depicting it different except for a small change in weight.

He repeated the process with the rest of them and soon had them lined off perfectly. They were simply…

…Shrapnel explosives. While normal bombs relied on blast damage, these would rip into flesh, right to the bone. And he knew the perfect jounin to test them out on.

He frowned, thinking that they wouldn't be enough against the elite ninja. He had stopping power, that's for sure. Right now, he would need something more. Something along the lines of deceiving.

 **9:00 a.m.**

All his preparation done with all last minute purchases, with everthing he would need for the test, he walked hurriedly to training ground seven to find his other two teammates standing around.

Correction. Sasuke was leaning against a tree and Sakura was…doing what Sakura does.

"Ohayou." The blond greeted.

The last loyal Uchiha grunted in reply while Haruno gave him a nod. She still 'hated' him but she really didn't want to get on her bad side. Last night when she had asked her mother about Naruto, Mebuki gave her a **really** strict warning about staying away from him because he was unstable and dangerous. And given what she had heard from the anbu regarding the Mizuki betrayal incident, she had no problem believing her.

"We're probably going to wait a while longer before he shows up." Naruto said out of the blue.

"Hmm?" Sasuke raised his head.

"I… did some research on him. He's always three hours late to everything."

"Hn."

Sakura swooned a little seeing Sasuke's indifference before she realized what Naruto was saying. "Wait. He said that he was coming at seven 'o' clock. That means he's-"

"Coming at ten a.m., Sakura-san." He instantly fell back into his bored vibe.

"Oh Kami." Sakura slapped her forehead in exasperation. "What should we do until then? Just wait?"

"Uh huh."

Sasuke gained a thoughtful look on his face. "I still wonder what his test is about."

"…" Naruto took off his bag, slouched against the tree his teammates were under and slid down it, making himself comfortable, the bag in his lap. "I've got a few theories."

"Which are?" Sakura asked expectantly.

"They're just theories. Nothing concrete." He lied. "Besides, I think we should all we should all just take small rest, and have some…" He trailed off.

"Some what?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity now rapidly elevating.

Naruto unzipped his bag and took out two small kits. "Breakfast. At least you two anyway."

Sasuke gave a grunt that sounded like a question.

"Yeah, yeah. Breakfast." He reaffirmed.

"But Kakashi-sensei said that if we eat, we'll puke!"

"I heard him. What kind of activity could make us vomit anyway? He's gonna spin us around in circles?" Naruto replied, his voice bleeding sarcasm.

"Who wants to vomit?" She argued.

"I'm going to try to be as clear as possible. Our sensei, who shared so little information about himself, is always late by three hours and _lied_ about the test starting at seven, is trustworthy enough to skip breakfast on his say-so?"

"Valid point." The raven haired boy agreed. "But we all already skipped breakfast, and none of us brought any food."

"Well, yeah! Besides, it's too late to go back to buy food and then have it before sensei comes!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, expression jaded. "…I already had breakfast. But I knew that you all would skip it too so I brought a little some'n some'n." With that said, he retrieved two small plastic dishes and handed each to Sasuke and Sakura, the latter of which took it rather hesitantly.

The dark eyed youth popped the lid to find a rice cake inside and a peeled orange cut into two. Sakura opened hers as well to find the same. Naruto went on to take out two more small clear plastic bags that made his teammates eyes widen a bit.

One had two large umeboshi plums and the other had two ripe medium sized tomatoes. They had no qualms taking these from the blond and Naruto had to double check his hands to make sure they didn't just catch fire.

He chuckled a little before he took out two water bottles to which he set on the ground. "And that's that."

Sasuke started eating while Sakura watched and waited, as if she expected something bad was about to happen. The Uzumaki noticed before he lifted an eyebrow. "Something wrong, Sakura-san? _Poison maybe_?"

The girl caught his tone and shook her head uneasily, "It's just that… I'm not hung-"

Her stomach growled audibly like a rabid dog, making her male counterparts shake their heads.

"Sounds like you are. But you're hesitant. Scared I poisoned it?"

"No.. it's just that-"

"Kaa-san told you that I'm dangerous. Am I right?"

She became shocked. "How did you-"

"Know? I'm not a well-liked person in the village. If everyone was a shade of grey in the village, I would say that the 'whites' like me while the dark shades or black down right hate me. The vast majority has dark shades. Your mother is a dark shade, one of many." He replied sagely.

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked between mouthfuls.

"Meh. Probably my pranks I did before I became ten." He said indifferently. 'Or a creature in my gut that craves mass destruction.'

"Anyway, the food is safe. I'm not gonna poison anyone! Besides, I don't need the notoriety."

She shrugged before she started eating. When Sasuke finished eating, he moved on the orange and finished prying it open to see some kind of white substance inside. "Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"What's the white powder inside the orange?"

Sakura became alarmed and was about to spit out her food when the blond sighed. "It's glucose."

"Oh."

They finished eating before they moved on to the water. They finished drinking it and felt more comfortable. They were finishing the dregs when their jounin sensei came into being via shunshin (leaves) in front of them. They were only a bit startled.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late. I had to-"

"Do something important?"

Kakashi hesitated. Was visiting the memorial stone important? "Hai. It was important."

"Then we can let it slide." Naruto got to his feet and stretched. "Do you have to do it every day?"

"Hai."

Naruto turned to his teammates who shared a nod with each other. "Very well." The Uzumaki was fast becoming the genin spokesman. "Lets have our test then, shall we?"

Kakashi eye smiled. 'Yep! And then the sun came out and the misery shall begin!' "Alright-y! The test! You will be having confrontation exam!"

"What kind of confrontation?" Sakura asked, becoming nervous.

"Thought someone would ask! A confrontation against me!" He walked over to a small memoriam structure and produced an alarm clock out of seemingly nowhere. He wound up the alarm and set it down dramatically before turning back to his students.

"You will be fighting me to get these two bells." He took out two bells from out of his weapons pouch and strapped it to his waist before he tapped them once, making them ring. "You will be fighting me to get these bells from me. However…" All mirth left his voice. "The person who doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy for further training."

"But there are only-"

"Hai. Two bells, Sakura. That means that no matter what, one person will not get a bell."

They all steeled themselves, gathering their confidence and willpower while their sensei went on.

"You have two hours to get them from me. The person who doesn't pass will get tied up and gets to watch the others have lunch." 'And cue the rumbling stomachs.'

He didn't get the satisfaction of hearing any. 'What?'

Naruto chuckled a little. "All of us had breakfast. No, wait. Let me amend that. _I had breakfast_ while I carried food to aid my fellow teammates."

Kakashi looked to the shade of the tree and noticed two plastic dishes stacked under a tree neatly alongside two bottles. "I told you if you ate any food, you would vomit."

The Uzumaki giggled a little before he turned to his teammates. "Uh, guys? Remember the powder? Turns out that it wasn't just glucose."

"What?!"

"Oh calm down, Haruno-san. It _is_ glucose. It's just that I added some ground up anti-regurgitation medicine in it as well, just to make sure that no one would actually vomit. You know, the pills they give bulimic people. So even if you touched you uvula in the back of your throat, your food is staying down, as it should be."

Sasuke gave a classic Uchiha smirk. "Good thinking."

"I also put anti-depressants in your water."

"…"

"I'm joking."

"Jokes aside, Naruto, by helping them, you have now handicapped your chances of passing without extra competition."

"Nah. It wouldn't be fair. Besides, even so, my 'big kind heart' wouldn't allow it."

Kakashi pondered on the blond in front of him. 'He already knows about the importance of having good teamwork and effort. But I still need to go through this test to make sure they all know what it means, especially Sakura having trust in Naruto and partiality to Sasuke while Sasuke seems to already par with Naruto and dislikes fan girls.'

"Come at me with the intent to kill. It's the only chance you have."

Naruto grinned widely. "To kill, huh?"

The grin slightly disturbed the Hatake but he shook it off. "Hai. Begin!"

Sasuke threw down a smoke bomb and all left the sensei in the smoke. By the time the smoke cleared, the jounin was standing alone. With a great sigh, he took out his worn edition of Icha Icha paradise. To the genin, two of which felt put off by the man's indifference while Naruto just felt…same old, same old.

He had his plans. It was really simple.

Go get the bells using the knowledge he possessed and get on his future senseis good side. He knew what the test was about but he needed to make it…'look realistic', so to speak.

He formed the cross ox seal and created a dozen clones to which he handed out his 'investments and creations.' Kakashi, while a jounin with a lot of experience with his years of being an elite was going to get the surprise of his life. Hopefully he won't get maimed in the process.

Sasuke finished setting up his trap and primed the kunai in their places. 'I willing to bet that me and Naruto have the best chance of getting the bells. Right now, Sakura's dead weight. Look at her, in the trees. Why the fuck is she watching me instead of Kakashi?' He glanced up into the tree where a patch of pink was clearly visible through the leaves. 'Pathetic.'

He jumped up in to another, much taller tree using chakra and hid himself there, taking six shuriken out of his weapon's pouch. 'Gotta drive Kakashi to the trap.'

He peeked out tentatively and watched his teacher read while Naruto strode into the clearing across from his teacher.

'What the hell is he doing?'

The Uzumaki stopped fifteen metres in front of the teacher who watched him lazily. Naruto merely shook his head slightly in a placating gesture. "So I have to get a bell, huh?"

"Hai, Naruto."

"May I have a bell please?"

Kakashi sweat dropped. "No."

The other two genin were stumped. 'Is he retarded?'

"You didn't say I couldn't ask. Geez. Anyway, it's time."

"Time for what?"

Naruto reached into his pouch dramatically while everyone watched him. To their surprise, he took out a blue rubber ball.

"I was uh, getting bored and I was wondering, wanna juggle it with me?"

"…"

"Didn't you have any friends who wanted to do this with you?"

The jounin's mind briefly wandered to his past, reminiscing on Obito who once asked him to juggle the ball with him, using feet only. Back then, he merely walked away but now, he was thinking 'Why not? I'll humor him.'

"Sigh. Sure."

Naruto dropped it unto the flat of his foot and started juggling it. He kicked it twice into the air, then his forehead before he kicked it over to his sensei. Kakashi hesitated before he caught it on his ankle before he kicked it as well. 'Composition is fine. Weight seems normal for a ball like this. There's no chakra in it. But then again, I think this is my first time handling a ball. This could be a trick for all I know. Better knock it back over to him.'

He briefly juggled it before he kicked it to Naruto. "What are your friends doing. Spectating?"

"Perhaps. They probably are." They started to play a little more aggressively, kicking it to each other with more force each time.

Naruto bided his time before he kicked it to Kakashi using chakra in his foot. Kakashi didn't notice but he kicked to him in a like wise manner, using chakra to augment their strength to get the other to miss a pass.

'4'

Naruto juggled it for a second before passing it to him again.

'3'

The silver haired man caught it on his chest before letting it fall to his foot before passing it.

'2'

Naruto caught it but kept his cool, knowing that the time was brief. He kicked to the Hatake.

'1'

Kakashi was convinced that this was an ordinary game but it had to cease. He put in more chakra into his next kick that would have been more than enough to burst the ball. The second- no…the _millisecond_ Kakashi's foot struck the ball, the damned thing blew up on his person.

 **Boom!**

Naruto turned a full 180 and fell flat as pieces of tile flew over his head and few embedded themselves in his shoes. A full second after the explosion ceased, he sat up and pulled them out before standing.

"Oi! Kakashi-sensei! I know you're alive!"

A hand grabbed his foot from underground. " **Doton: Daburu danto jisatsu**." (Earth release: Double decapitation suicide)

He was pulled into the ground, only neck and shoulders above ground. Kakashi remerged from the ground two feet in front of him, eye smiling.

"That was… quite devious."

"Did it work?"

Kakashi made a 'half and half' gesture. I got away with a kawarimi. But I still got some pieces in my foot and one nearly made it into my family jewels. What was it?"

"Ceramic tiles. Made it me'self." Naruto chuckled, despite his situation.

"So you said you only made wise decisions, huh? Let's see you get out of that predicament."

Thud…thud…

The sound of a bouncing ball was heard and Kakashi saw another of those rubber balls bouncing towards him. The man refocused on Naruto who was flexing his muscles inside the hole and broke through. In five seconds, he was standing outside the hole, covered in dirt.

"Oh?"

"It was mostly dry dirt and I enhanced my muscles with chakra."

Kakashi seemed hesitant about the bouncing ball coming towards them. To run would seem cowardly but to stay would hurt… _a lot_.

Thud…thud…thud. He leapt away to what he thought was a safe distance and raised his hands over his eye.

Naruto caught the ball and tossed it from palm to palm, smirking at the Hatake. Confused at the fact that Naruto was handling it so well, he raised an eyebrow. All of a sudden, he had the ball, standing in Naruto's place.

'Kawarimi? Shi-'

It blew up on his person again while Naruto was laughing.

"Its frickin' hilarious. The second time, even more so." 'Or would it be the fourth time? This future crap is confusing, sometimes.'

He spun on his heel and ran away in a print when he saw Kakashi reading while sitting on a rock, looking bemused. He was no coward; but chances that the team passed without his knowledge were unlikely.

'Well, part one of my plans have come to fruition. Now to get my teammates.' He leapt up into the trees, landing on the one in between Sasuke and Sakura. "Hey guys."

"Hn."

"What do you want, Naruto! And what was that…thing?"

"Frankly, they're my homemade improved explosives. But we're going to have to team up to beat him."

"I don't need a team."

Naruto, on his part, completely expected the Uchiha to say that. And he also knew that Sakura would say-

'Yeah! Sasuke-kun's an Uchiha!'

"Yeah! Sasuke-kun's an Uchiha!"

He sighed internally. 'Let things run their course for a little while. And then I'll come back and talk to them.'

Ten minutes later, one of Naruto's clones slapped Sakura awake in the face while another clone kawarimi'd with Sasuke who was a victim to the Double decapitation suicide technique. Now, they were ready to listen.

"Alright, Sasuke-san. We're going to fight Kakashi-sensei in taijutsu from in front of him and behind him. I'll use my parrying stance while you use your Interceptor fist on him from the front. Sakura and a few of my clones will be throwing kunai from flanked positions at sensei from the side. I also have around three more clones from behind Kakashi throwing my bombs. That reminds me. Here."

He took out two balls from his bag and gave one each to his teammates. "Just focus your chakra into them and they will explode. Five second fuse."

Sasuke grunted while Sakura seemed hesitant (again) at holding one of the bombs that even had their jounin teacher weary of them. "Won't they hurt us?"

"So long as you throw them at him and run like hell, you'll be fine. Just make sure you turn your back to it. You wouldn't want the shrapnel to dig into your face."

She paled visibly before she put it away.

"Alright. Let's go Uchiha."

"Uzumaki."

They both leapt into the clearing, the middle of which stood the confident jounin. Sasuke ran straight at him while Naruto ran to circle him, running to get behind him and into his blind spot a little to the left.

Kakashi backpedaled a little to try and keep Naruto in view but retired from the effort to focus on the Uchiha who was picking up momentum to perform a straight forward punch. The man caught the hand easily at the wrist with his left hand and wrenched it harshly to the 'outside' area of the boys arm making the boy groan in pain. He brought his right foot with a sweeping kick to the jounin's side but the man stopped it by blocking with his right hand, flexing it in a 'v'.

By this time, Naruto had made it behind him and seemed deliberately to wait until he was fully occupied with Sasuke. Once he saw his hands 'full', he took out a kunai and lunged at the man's back with a forward grip, his 'pinky' finger in the loop.

In a blur, the man was no longer busying himself with Sasuke and deflected the knife with his steel wrist protector. Not daunted, he swung the knife in a circle on his pinky into a reverse grip and started slashing with it. Kakashi kept dodging each arc of the blade, practically dancing out of his way each time.

Four kunai sailed through the air, cutting through it while on its way to a meeting with the man's upper torso. He rapidly took out his own kunai (Seems two inches longer than the norm) and deflected them, letting them fall harmlessly at his feet.

Sasuke now recovered some use in his hand grabbed the man's kunai arm at the elbow while reaching another hand at the bells while Naruto threw his kunai, aiming at the man's heart. At the same time, three more kunai were hurled at the man again, plus four shuriken at the man again.

They all embedded themselves in the man who poofed away leaving a log in his place, signaling a replacement jutsu.

"Shit! Substitution!"

Naruto and Sasuke looked around sharply before they heard slow clapping. They turned to find their sensei stroll into the clearing.

"Congratulations. You forced me to do a kawarimi because of too much interference."

"Hn," Sasuke shut his eyes momentarily, thinking about his second close encounter with the bells.

"We don't want to see you sub out with a log. We want to see you give us the bells, or bleed out at our feet." Naruto said darkly.

Kakashi merely eye smiled. But to the aspiring genin, it was more of an eye _smirk_.

Throwing caution to the wind, the two genin males ran at their teacher, intent on getting the bells, no matter the cost. They both engaged in a brief bout in taijutsu but while the boys were on offense, Kakashi was playing strict defense, and dodging.

It irked them a little but they refused to give in the towel. Finally, Naruto abandoned his stance and made a dive at the man with his hand gripping a kunai going forward, yelling at the top of his lungs. Hatake sidestepped him and engaged Sasuke while avoiding some flying shuriken. Naruto fell unto his arms first and performed a pk roll before quickly getting up, turning sharply on his left foot while he reached into his weapon's pouch on his waist.

He took out the handle and swiped it down rapidly to make it extend rapidly. With it in one hand, he made a diagonal slash with it at Kakashi's back.

While Kakashi's skills had dulled somewhat over the years, he knows by instinct to dodge a blade when he senses the air behind him getting cleaved. In the same action, he saved himself form the fate of getting cleaved as well.

He sidestepped the predicted path of the blade while turning sideways to get a good look at it. it was like nothing he had never seen before. Unfortunately, in his moment of curiosity, Sasuke had drawn a kunai and slashed it at Kakashi's gut, with all of his strength behind it.

Kakashi saw it coming and clumsily deflected it with his steel wrist protector. The kunai slid haphazardly across it and cut into the cloth of the glove, leaving blood trails on his knuckles.

Still in shock that a _genin_ actually scored a hit against him (Besides Naruto with a shrapnel bomb), the Uzumaki quickly turned the tactical weapon to the blunt side facing the sensei and swung it as hard as he could, aiming for the man's lower back. With a small yell to indicate he was using a massive amount of energy, the weapon made its way to the man's back and struck it with enough force to break it.

The man exploded into a large plume of smoke that grew in volume and covered the area the males were in. They quickly ran out when they realized that the man had kawarimi'd while using some smoke bombs.

Sasuke looked like he was running low on stamina while Naruto made a small gesture. His hand was at his side when he balled his hands then opened them five seconds later. He then closed all of his fingers & thumb while he left his index finger unclenched, seemingly pointing at the ground.

The Uchiha noticed and took out his rubber ball bomb and dropped it. Naruto activated his and dropped it as well and when Sakura in the trees saw what they were doing, she threw hers as well, and it bounced right into the smoke.

The two boys sprinted out of the clearing, trying to get the hell out of ground zero before the three bombs went off. Suffice to say when Kakashi came out of the ground for the last time to find no one there, all he saw where three blue rubber balls…

The bell rang, and then all hell broke loose with Kakashi at the epicenter.

XxX

Kakashi plucked a piece of tile from his jacket and dropped it on the ground at his feet, making a 'clink' sound. "I did not foresee such an attack."

Naruto was tossing a bomb up an down in a single hand. "You are a jounin after all. Besides, you're still alive, aren't you?"

"Hai, hai. Thank Kami for the simple things." He replied sarcastically. He plucked out another shard from his vest, just short of his neck. He held it out to the boy to emphasize how close he came to getting killed.

Sasuke and Sakura sat next to each other for the first time, one giving off a celebratory vibe, the other a smug one. Naruto fist pumped the air in one of his brief moments of emotion.

"However, you failed to get the bells. So no one passes." He frowned like a thunder cloud.

"Bullshit. This was a team effort." Naruto piped up. "We knew that it was because no team can have only two genin and one jounin instructor. Besides, even if a genin got a bell, given the proximity of the two bells, they would have gotten the second in the same attempt. They would have to share a bell anyhow."

"Anyway, on a side note, didn't you say that who gets a bell passes?"

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye in scrutiny, the other two genin confused. "Hai. I did."

"Well. I guess I pass regardless." He reached into his weapon's pouch and retrieved two bells. The others looked at them in shock before they looked to Kakashi's waist, noticing the lack of said bells.

The boy became bored again. "I cut them off your waist when I dived at you with the kunai. Didn't you notice that you're not making any 'jingle' sounds when you move?"

The look on the Hatake's waist, while priceless, told him that he indeed, had.

"I got the bells, I passed." He walked over to his teammates and handed each of them a bell. "Now they're getting bells, they pass too. No one said that I had to hold unto the bells to pass. Your test statement was flawed."

Sakura and Sasuke weren't sure if that idea was even plausible but the Hatake decided to accept it.

"Alright. You were right. The test was about teamwork in the first place and you seem to work together fine. Sakura distracting me with throwing weapons, Naruto and Sasuke fighting me with taijutsu but there's one thing I don't understand."

"What's that?"

"Who threw the ball bomb when you were stuck in the ground?"

"A kage bunshin."

"Those kage bunshin were helping Sakura with the throwing weapons, correct?"

"Uh huh."

The silver haired man sighed as he stroked the side of his face. "Well, good for you. I couldn't kawarimi very well when I just got out of the ground halfway. You all got very lucky."

'I knew that you were susceptible. I knew.' "And?" The Uzumaki raised an eyebrow.

"You all pass. I christen this squad as team 7, yadda, yadda, yadda. However." His tone grew serious. "All those who abandon the rules are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

There was a brief moment of silence that Naruto soon broke.

"Can I get the food in the bentos now? I'm gettin' kinda hungry."

 **And that's that. The ending was rushed a bit but I didn't want to miss tonight's update. I'm unwell, hungry and all the crappy stuff that comes with being a human being. Anyway, review, tell me what you think and (clears throat) 'that's all folks'.**

 **Sayonara.**


	5. Chapter 5

Living Twice

 **I'm not going to beat around the bush. Here's chapter five.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **5.**

He walked around the corner and stood, leaning against the wall.

He waited.

He waited.

And waited some more.

Finally, after what felt like an eternal version of ten minutes, a cat with a red ribbon around its neck ran right around the corner…

Into a cardboard box that had a few holes in it. It had no chance to react to the box trap it bounded right into. The cat was running at full tilt and as soon as it crashed inside the box, the boy simply shut the lid and hefted it up in a carry close to his chest.

" _Naruto? Do you have the target-"_

Naruto immediately lifted a finger to his earphone that kept him in touch with the other members of team seven. "Sheesh, it's only a cat. I got Tora. Lets all just meet up back at the hokage's office, huh?"

"… _Tch… you're such a spoilsport, Naruto. All right, my cute genin, lets all get to the office."_

As soon as he received Kakashi's confirmation, Naruto turned off his earpiece. He really did not need to hear Sakura's with Kakashi banter going on again for the second time today. One time was bad enough.

He placed both hands underneath the box and begun making his way to the Hokage's tower. It was a bit of a journey but nothing that couldn't be solved by a fifteen minute brisk walk. Along the way, crowds parted for him as if he were an important official no on wanted to cross but he knew better.

"It got a bit worse since the incident." He muttered to himself. "No doubt because of me and jiji's decision to come clean."

*Meow* Tora scratched at the sides of the box slightly in discomfort.

"Are you agreeing with me, Tora?" He whispered.

*Meow*

"I'll look out for you a little. It'll benefit me more in the long term." He quickly took out a small piece of pre-wrapped salted fish and dropped it in the box. He silently delighted in hearing the cat fuss over the treat.

He was walking past the ramen stand now when he heard someone call his name loudly from the establishment. Without even looking back to the caller, he merely yelled back his answer.

"No. Losses."

Said person seemed to be satisfied with the answer as they didn't say anything more. To an outside onlooker, the person would probably lift an eyebrow at the lack of any substantial information gained by eavesdropping.

Exactly as how Naruto planned it.

Without any delay whatsoever, he reached his destination quickly. By some strange chance, all the members of team seven arrived at the same time, with nary a passing word to each other. This didn't bother Kakashi any at all. For some reason, the team was closer through the silence than through speech. Naruto, nowadays only spoke when spoken to, Sasuke only when necessary and Sakura spoke sparingly. Perhaps she did it when she grew tired of the silence, sometimes.

They were nothing to remind him of his own genin team of his youth and perhaps that was for the best. The Hatake broke out of his musings when he realized that they were in were now in front of the Sandaime.

"Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama. Tora was retrieved."

The kage took his pipe from his mouth as he released a puff of the cancer-inducing smoke. "That's record time, even for your squad, Kakashi-san."

"Hai. Naruto, the cat, if you may."

The boy obliged and took out the docile cat of the box. The cat allowed itself to be manhandled and started to purr when Naruto started to stroke it behind the ears and neck. The others were slightly surprised at the scene for by all accounts, 'Tiger' was a bit savage with the other teams, even with Sakura and Sasuke.

"Alright." The Sandaime quickly sent Sakura to bring the Daimyo's wife from another room so she could get her cat back. Upon entering, the woman rushed to Naruto, making the cat tense as taut as guitar string.

"Oh! Tora, my darling cat!" Naruto turned sideways to the woman, preventing her from taking the cat from him.

"Excuse me young man. MY cat please?"

"Hold on." He stroked the cat a few more times in an effort to calm it. Finally achieving it, he fully turned back to the woman.

"Good morning, Ma'am."

She tapped her foot in slight impatience. "Ohayou."

"Does the cat run away from you often?"

She hesitated briefly. "Hai. Why are you asking this?"

"Is the cat trying to get out of my hands?"

"No."

He handed the cat to the woman who took it, now confused. The second she grasped the creature, it clawed her hands to get her to let go. As she did, the cat dropped to the ground and climbed up the Uzumaki's pant leg, back into his arms.

"The cat dislikes your treatment of it. It's fairly obvious."

"I treat Tora with the best I have to offer-"

He raised a hand to stop her. The whole time, the others in the room was fretting in some degree, hoping that the damned blond didn't botch things up for Konoha. The Sandaime kept a cool exterior, however. He trusted Naruto to make wise and smart decisions. He had done so thus far.

"No, you don't. While you clearly lavish it with food and beauty care and whatnot, the cat desires affection and you're not doing it correctly." He started stroking the cat slowly and gently, making the cat purr audibly. "Do you hear her purring?"

"Hai. I do."

"Do as I do."

For the next three minutes, Naruto basically lectured her and taught her how to treat the cat. At the end of it all, Tora was snug in her mistress's arms."

"Your cat probably won't run away anymore. You're welcome."

The woman smiled broadly. "Arigato, young man." She walked out, cooing sweet nonsense to the cat, leaving.

The Sandaime slightly grinned. "That takes care of that problem. Besides, we don't get money for doing missions for Daimyo-dono and his wife. We were expected to do it for free."

"I know. That's why I did it. Besides, I think the cat was starting to grow on me. Didn't want to wish bad for it."

The Sandaime shrugged in response. "Anyway, would you like another D rank-"

"Let me stop you there. We have had twenty-five consecutive D rank missions. We are now eligible for a C ranked one. That is, if sensei believes we're ready." Naruto interrupted.

"…I do."

Hiruzen nodded. "Tazuna-san! You may enter!"

The door opened after a moment, letting in a man seemingly in his early sixties who swayed a little as he walked. There was glass flask sticking out of his hip pocket and he smelled strongly of alcohol.

"Ohayou, Hokage-sama. So this is the _super_ team of ninja who are escorting me to Wave?! Looks like a bunch of brats who don't even know how to wipe their own noses. How are they supposed to protect me?"

Naruto smiled grimly. "Your lack of confidence in us is acknowledged. If you would prefer, there is an alternative of you going solo. It wouldn't be any different. Perhaps you could break your bottle over a bandit's head to defend yourself." He pointed at the bottle, which the man had the decency to poke it back inside his pocket to conceal it.

The man hesitated, catching the boy's drift. 'He's saying take it or leave it…If I go with them, there's a good chance that the jounin guy could just do most of the work anyway. If only I had more money, I could just... hire more, better ninja-'

"What's your answer, Tazuna-san?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow.

The man sighed. "We'll depart at noon. I wish to leave as soon as possible."

Kakashi nodded. "Very well. Hokage-sama, we accept the mission. Team seven, go home and pack for a week. Meet at the main gate at ten minutes before noon."

 **11:50 a.m.**

Naruto dropped from a nearby roof and rolled neatly in a pk roll, right in front of his teammates and charge who had arrived before him. In one of those rare times, Kakashi was early and currently logging their information with the gate guards so they could leave.

"Showoff." Sakura muttered.

"It can dissipate two thousand, four hundred pounds of force. Rolling comes easy to me and is very useful, even while fighting." Naruto defended. "Besides, it looks good."

Sasuke merely shook his head. "Hn." His grunt sounded as if he was agreeing with what Naruto said.

Kakashi finally finished and with a curt goodbye, the team left the village, looking back at it as it decreased in size as the distance grew. Only Sakura at present felt an air of adventure while the others were merely indifferent. Tazuna walked in front with Sasuke at his side while Sakura and Kakashi walked behind the two and slightly to the sides. Naruto was at the very back, bringing up the rear.

They were now quite far in the journey before Sakura broke the silence and asked what she could expect from Wave country. While the bridge builder began to spin tales about the country in its hey-day, Naruto began thinking about the events that would take place today. In fact, he was timing everything to be accurate, right down to the second while pondering if anything would change for the better.

Or for the worst.

Soon, they came upon a wide puddle to the side of the road which all took care to not step in, avoiding getting their shoes/sandals wet. As soon as they passed it, a scythe seemingly materialized from it and spun in the air as it made a beeline for the jounin of the group.

As the man turned to look at it, the reaping tool decapitated him and continued on its way. Kakashi's head fell with a thud as blood spewed from his neck. The body, not realizing it was dead continued walking a few more steps before it collapsed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The pinkette gasped as she saw her teacher get brutally killed. Tazuna, in a similar sense begun to worry that he would soon share the same fate. Naruto and Sasuke leapt to adjacent sides of the small water body to dodge the scythe as it made a round trip and returned to the puddle. A hand reached up out of it and caught it at the handle as a figure emerged from it. Two more followed and it was shown that they all had slashed Kiri headbands that showed that they had declared themselves missing nin. They were all dressed the same but the second and third had clawed gauntlets that seemed to have poison dripping off them.

"One down." The man with the scythe grinned in a smirk as he regarded the dead man. "And the rest will follow."

"Kakashi-sensei has been dubbed as an elite ninja. He's not dead." Naruto mouthed the words to his teammates who set their faces. Sakura placed herself in front of Tazuna and took out a kunai. She really didn't know anything solid yet but she needed to do something while her male counterparts did most of the grunt work.

Without further ado, the three men lunged at the four people. The man with the scythe rushed Sasuke while one of the gauntlet wearing men charged at Naruto while the last ran at Sakura. Slightly panicking, she threw her kunai at the man to stop him or mostly slow him down. The man merely turned sideways while running; dodging it while not slowing down in the least. Naruto muttered curses as the scythe toting man passed him to get to the Kunoichi and Tazuna. He was about to try and intercept the man but he had to abandon when a clawed metal hand nearly raked his chest, stopping him in his tracks.

Sakura took out six shuriken and threw them as hard as she could but the man laughed as he deflected all of them easily while making a show of it, using the three foot handle. "This is all Konoha has to offer?! Just run along, little girl, or I'll kill **you** along with the bridge builder!"

He flipped the scythe deftly to make a reaping motion and raised it over his head to swing it. As he brought it to down in a diagonal slash, she ducked to the inside of it, trying to stay clear of it. As the momentum of the weapon brought it down, he merely used the handle and slammed her in the face with it. Fortunately, it was mostly negated because it had struck her hitai ate but the pain of it was concussive regardless.

To her growing horror, she began to see doubles and the man ready to swing the weapon again as hard as he could. She had lost her depth perception and silently prayed for her sensei to intervene. Suddenly, a dark blue blur appeared in front of her. For a fleeting moment, she thought that Sasuke was going to save her and how romantic it was, but then she realized that the shade of the colour was too dark.

Naruto stood between the two and as the weapon was brought down, the boy merely used his left hand and did a back handed fist to the man's wrist, making the weapon veer off to the side. The blade dug into the ground and before the man could react and rock it out quickly, Naruto kicked the man in his crotch with the toes of his sandal.

The man screamed in agony, mouth wide open. Naruto quickly took out a ball and stuffed it in the man's mouth. His anguished cries now muffled and doubling over in pain, Naruto grabbed by the hand and elbow and quickly dragged him away into the undergrowth. A few seconds later, an explosion erupted with them at the focal point, blood, gore and organ matter splattered some of the surrounding area.

Sakura and Tazuna stared wide eyed at the scene, both not daring to believe that the blond had perished. 'Did Naruto just sacrifice himself to save me?'

"Hey Sakura! Look alive, these two are still trying to kill Tazuna-san!"

She turned to look to where the voice was coming from only to see Sasuke and Naruto still fighting the men with what looked like poisoned gauntlets. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but sweat drop at her error. 'Must've been a shadow clone.' She touched her head lightly. Her head was still aching, but the pain was already fading. "Tazuna-san, please stay behind me.'

The man nodded as he continued to stare the four combatants fighting. He was still confused as to the fact that the boy was still alive.

 **XxX**

Sasuke abandoned his interceptor fist taijutsu to remove a kunai to try and parry the man's 'claws'. He realized that if so much as receive a scratch, the fight might as well be forfeit.

Gozu kept up the pressure in the fight by launching his shuriken chain at the boy, aiming at his chest. He leapt to one side to avoid it and threw his kunai at the chunin, still trying to keep his distance. Gozu started retracting the chain and in the process, deflected the tossed knife with his metal glove.

In the meantime, Naruto had no qualms being within arm's reach of his opponent. Try as he might, every time Meizu swung his left hand gauntlet, by the time the attack was executed, Naruto simply wasn't in the spot anymore. He couldn't launch his shuriken chain because the boy would simply dodge it, given his current capabilities. In frustration, he lunged forward with it, straight at the boy's chest.

Finally spotting the opening he was waiting for, Naruto quickly took out a kunai in his right hand and ducked/turned on one foot to avoid the man's straightforward attack. As he crouched, he spun a full 360 degrees and stabbed the man in the side with the kunai as hard as he could, right up till his hand gripping the knife slammed the man, preventing the kunai from progressing any further.

It had slid in right between the ribs and the man could already feel his lungs starting to fill with blood. He stopped, stock still to ponder if he was going to make it out of the situation but his wandering mind was brought back to the battlefield when Naruto pulled out his kunai. The man started bleeding profusely and Naruto quickly took out his baton/blade and swiped it out to release the catch. Before Meizu could react properly, his kneecap got broken.

"Gah!" He fell on his still intact knee and grasped the other, yelling in pain. Without any further hesitation, Naruto, using substantial effort, brought the blunt side down crashing unto the man's head, feeling the man's head cave in a little with the sound of his skull breaking.

The man ceased his screaming and crumpled in a heap on the ground. Gozu saw all the events that had befallen his brother out of the corner of his eye and turned to gaze at his brother's apparent death, unbelieving. "Meizu!"

He ran over to the man and clutched his shoulder slightly with his left hand, as if trying to wake him up. A tear came to his eye as anger boiled inside him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before he shrugged. 'Screw the consequences of changing events.' He unsealed two 'water' balloons from a seal at his waist and chucked them at the two men. The balloons broke on impact and the contents splashed over the two men, making Gozu bawl for his eyes.

Sakura watched the man scream for his eyes burning before she smelt a mysterious smell on the air. "Is that…*sniff* kerosene?!"

The blond shook his head. "No. It's oil paint thinner." He looked over to Sasuke and gestured over at the two men on the ground with his head. "There's not really a difference between the two…"

The last loyal Uchiha got the hint and smirked. He quickly went through handseals, ending on tiger. " **Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"** (Fire release: Fireball technique) Instead of blowing a projectile fireball, he did a constant stream and for the rest of his life, all Gozu knew was a fiery fate.

His screams soon died down at the same time Kakashi came out, looking at the mostly disheveled genin. "Whoa, my cute little genin are getting carried away with murder. Don't you think you've gone overboard?"

"That's not murder… it was mostly self defense."

The man in the fire screamed again before going silent for the last time.

"We went overboard, but it's not murder." Naruto said, as if he wasn't interrupted by the man's dying woes. Sakura looked to 'Kakashi's body', only to find a log, with a small piece of it cut off at the top.

"Kakashi-sensei, why didn't you help us? What if Naruto hadn't helped me?"

"I would have stepped in. I just wanted you all to get some first-hand experience in this line of work. Besides, all of you performed well, using all of your capabilities."

The pinkette at the moment felt little more than dead weight but her jounin teacher helped her with her esteem a little. She shrugged it off and turned to the blond. "Naruto, thanks for saving me and all, but why do you carry paint thinner with you?"

"I carry lots of things. I also have regular water balloons, essence of pepper mixed in water, dirt, so on and so forth. I never know when I need stuff like this. Like starting my own fire, blinding people, things like that. I even have a stuffed toy or two. Makes for good distractions. Like when I distracted sensei last week with the plush toy."

"The distraction only lasted for a second." Kakashi defended.

"Still made you look the other way."

"Sounds more like household items to me." Sasuke butted in.

"They're cheap and effective."

Tazuna trembled at the two men burning, their charred corpses now visible in the dying flames. 'These… are kids?! They're making light of what they just did!' He turned to team, only to see them staring at him. "What?"

Kakashi was the one to reply. "The one with the scythe said he was out to kill you. he was going to kill you and threatened to kill Sakura as well. _As well._ That means they were out for just you and we were merely interferences."

"I…"

"Tazuna-san? Is there any particular reason why chunin would be after you? These two men here-" Kakashi gestured to the dead men, their bodies smoldering."Are the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu. They are missing nins from Kiri."

"What about the guy with the scythe?" Sakura asked.

"I didn't recognize him. He was probably a small fry so he didn't even have a bingo book entry."

"And you'll never get the chance to recognize him." Sasuke said, eyeing the gore filled and bloody mess in the undergrowth. "That bomb blew him to pieces."

"I'll try to make my work cleaner next time."

"What are you not telling us, Tazuna?"

The older man sighed in resignation. "I have been marked for death."

"By who?"

"An evil man named Gato-"

"Not everthing is so black and white, Tazuna-san." Naruto interrupted.

"He _is_ evil. I doubt the man has ever suckled human milk! He steals and sells women into prostitution, kills people who opposes him, burns down whoever's house he pleases and can get away with it all. Everyone's scared to go against him and there is no law. Even if there was, I doubt anyone would testify and if they did, he's rich enough to buy silence and bribe officials. Even if that fails, he could be broken out by his army of hooligans, bandits and thieves."

"I understand all of this; I have heard stories and rumors of the man's misdeeds and notoriety. But why would he want to kill you?" The Hatake pressed.

"He controls all trade routes by the sea when my home, The Land of Waves depends on these routes for supplies and trades. Because he monopolizes this, he leaves to fend for ourselves, left with the dregs and exorbitant prices over which he has power over."

None of the members of team seven responded audibly. Their hearts went out to those of the country, imagining the picture which the man was painting in their heads.

"I wish to build a bridge that connects us to the mainland. If we could get it built, we could do our own trading and save our own country-"

"Now you're being foolish, old man."

"Excuse me?!" All eyes turned to the blond speaker.

"Let's say you build the bridge. Yay, everyone's happy. Then Gato comes and controls the bridge. Makes things easier for him. Maybe he demolishes it. Boo-hoo. It would be a waste of time and effort. Then he kills people, and it's a massive waste and an unfortunate fate. But for that to even happen, we would have to protect you while you build the bridge, as well as protect your coworkers, who are most likely dispirited. Hmm. And you say he practically has his own army. While they are unskilled, the way you mentioned them, they may be numerous. While we may have talent to fight them, we would be vastly outnumbered and you know the saying, 'little strokes fell great oaks.'"

"So what are you saying, Naruto. We cut our losses and go back to the Leaf?" Kakashi asked.

"I didn't say that. We can probably handle the army. Along with some help." He said pointedly, referring to his usage of clones. "What I'm saying is that the mission detail just got an update."

"Which is?"

"Assassination. We are ninja. We do anything it takes to ensure mission success, even if it means blinding ourselves if the client is exceptionally paranoid of people staring at him. We have to kill Gato to make sure that-"

"This does not repeat itself." Kakashi finished silently. He looked at his sensei's son and trembled internally at the uncanny reasoning between the two. It was truly what made the man so dangerous and it was present in the boy in front of him, his face hardened so much that it was as if it were chiseled out of granite. "So do all of you agree to help Tazuna-san?"

"So long as no other ninja show up, except for just bandits, I think it's alright." Sakura said.

"Hn. Guess so. It was getting boring back at home, anyway." Sasuke said.

"I couldn't agree more, Sasuke. Fighting really gets the blood pumping." The Uzumaki said lightheartedly, almost a full 180 from his previous 'grim and serious' vibe. He created six shadow clones and gave them orders to 'clean up' while the group went on in their journey.

They were all silent but Kakashi was perhaps the most thoughtful. 'That's another incident when Naruto was fully prepared to deal with. I don't expect a genin to sense anyone from that puddle of water, much less prepared to act. He saved Sakura with a clone I sensed following us shortly after we left the gates. He must've created it then. How and why would he do that unless he predicted trouble that he himself couldn't intervene in? Can…Naruto _predict_ the _future_?' He discretely glanced at the boy. 'He's never been wrong in a choice unless I noticed it deliberate. He knew how to fight me in advance. He also seems to enjoy finishing other people's sentences. Anyone can do those things with talent and practice. Maybe even a lucky streak but Naruto definitely needs some observing. After all, look at how he profiled himself when the team was formed. Maybe I'll ask him when the time's right.'

Sakura was also lost in thought. 'He saved me. Kaa-san must've been wrong about him 'cause he's never done anything wrong, at least, not that I know of. He's always looking out for me and Sasuke. Unless she's talking about how he kills people. He blew the man up with a bomb and helped Sasuke by burning a man to death. He even said he likes fighting. He did say he was bored in Konoha and he's always bored like Shikamaru.' She tapped her head testily. All the pain from earlier was gone and she was grateful. 'I've never heard of a ninja who doesn't kill. It's not a good thing but the scythe guy nearly killed me. Naruto's a good person even though he can be a little brutish.'

Naruto glanced at Sakura. 'She's alive. At least that I was able to ensure that but I don't know the consequences of what I did. Not knowing, is dangerous. Ignorance nearly killed me when I stole the scroll of kinjutsu and it cost Iruka his life. Just when he promised that he would look out for me the week before. He didn't deserve to die. He died trying to save me. This…knowledge. Is it a blessing…or a curse?'

He stared out in front of him, his eyebrows furrowing.

'In all that happens, and will happen, I'll try to make the most of it. History will be kind as errors are fixed…'

 **Let me stop it right there. I don't want to drop more hints than needed and I didn't really feel like going into the fight with Zabuza this week. I'm too gosh-darn tired from 'living too much' this week, if you know what I mean. (Yawn.) –[I really yawned there.] Besides, I left B.L. on a cliffhanger and I need to resolve it. It's eating me alive!**

 **That's all folks. Review, point out my mistakes, tell me what you like, and add to alerts and faves, yadda yadda yadda. That's all folks.**

 **Sayonara. (Yawn.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Living Twice: Altering the Present**

 **Well, I'm back. I'm not gonna bore you with a commentary.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But on another note, I own 'Omniscience'. Feel free to check it out when you're done reading this chapter.**

 **6.**

The ferry ride was unearthly quiet. Anyone who was anyone would claim that it was peaceful and tranquil but to everyone who _was_ on said ferry, thought that in silence this concentrated, the slightest pin drop would be akin to an explosion.

Sakura stared out into the thinly-veiled fog, trying to see if she could see land. She was, by all means a bit nervous and kept well away from the edge of the large boat. But if one thing was certain, the least she could do was make herself useful and announce if she saw land. It simply would not do to suddenly run aground.

Sasuke spoke quietly to Tazuna, who spoke back in hushed tones. The Uchiha had thought it wise to try and find out more about the shipping magnate, Gato, and what kind of organization he had and the people who answered to him. So far, Tazuna was only able to tell him estimates of the number of thugs he bossed and what kind of weapons they wielded. They were nothing impressive he noted. If anything, they were like ants. It was easy to kill or take out one, even several. But there was a reason why people didn't go around disturbing anthills.

Kakashi continued to read his worded smut and continued to steal glances over the book at his most intriguing charge, Naruto. The boy was seated on a wooden bench nailed to the floor of the boat and napped with his head in his lap. The Uzumaki seemed contented with his current situation and by Kakashi's reasoning, resting was a good idea. Who knew when they would get another chance to do so? Besides, it invigorated the mind as well as the body.

But that was not the most interesting issue.

For the past two hours since the fight with the three ex-mist Nin, he started to suspect that Naruto was able to see into the future, or at the very least, predict it. The lad had done some interesting things, said some interesting things and now…if he was right, what was he supposed to do about it?

If he can't predict the future, then he has had a bizarre winning streak to never be wrong, chalked up to be some sort of blessing from Kami or some underhanded trick from the Shinigami, because he doubted that the Kyuubi would be able to have some ability or talent like that. Foresight and luck were usually applied to birds and rabbits in lore, cunning and trickery only belonged to foxes.

If he can predict the future, then would it be a 'whoop de doo'? Or would it be something terrible? Opinion? He could be a fantastic ninja, always knowing when, how and where to strike and preventing the injury or death of any comrade. On the other hand, he would be specifically targeted for such a gift. Foresight could only get one so far. What if, one day, all he would 'see' was that there was no way out?

'Dangerous thoughts there, Kakashi. Pull it together.' The man thought. 'This is still based on a massive 'if' that he _can_ see the future.' He looked to where he sensed the shoreline would be and saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw that his female genin student was still staring out, trying to find it.

'Let her have this. Don't want her to think she's incompetent.' "Hey, Sakura, do you see land anywhere? Can't wait to get off and stretch." He said with an eye-smile.

Spying the nearing coast, she nodded. "Hai, Kakashi-sensei. I see it. It's about fifty meters ahead of us."

Tazuna looked up from his mostly one-sided conversation with Sasuke and turned to the ferry-man and his assistant. "Hear that, Bōto and Gyō?"

The middle aged man looked up from his rowing at the stern of the boat, as did his son. "We knew where it was." The man gave a piano-like grin. "We knew 'cause of experience! Why, we could take a boat out on a moonless night and still find our way 'round! Ain't that so, m'boy?"

"Hai tou-san. Ease up on your steering with the rudder. We don't want to broadside those rocks sticking out over there."

Kakashi looked to the nautical steering duo. "Arigatou, for carrying us."

"It's just business! But I do wonder why the sleeping boy there was the one to pay for all of you. Is he the only trusted with money?"

"He did that because he wanted to take the easiest and shortest route, I believe. Our intention was to walk around the long way but when he saw you, he suggested we take a short cut." 'It would be best I didn't say that he had pitied them and wanted to help them out. Although the tip he also gave was rather over the top.'

"Is that so? Well then, wake him up then. We're there anyway." The duo stopped rowing and coasted in to the shore where there was a small boardwalk which was meant for disembarking. Sakura and Sasuke hopped off the boat unto this while the Hatake shook Naruto's shoulder.

"Hey Naruto. We're here. Let's get going."

The boy roused himself quickly and stood up, stretching and yawning. "Uh huh. Guess so. Thanks, old man."

"Anytime!"

The final two ninja and Tazuna got off and watched the ferry go off again into the fog. Soon, it could no longer be seen and the travelers continued their journey. Tazuna claimed that it was probably for the best if they just followed the river in case the fog worsened to find the way to his home, as he was not much more experienced in such conditions.

Naruto hesitated when he mentioned this and Kakashi took notice of it. "The river? Do you live fairly close to it?"

Tazuna nodded. "It runs close to the town I live in. If we follow it, getting home is a sure thing. After all, it runs to the sea."

"There's no other way?"

"Well, if you would rather travel far out of the way while tripping over you own feet, then sure."

Kakashi looked between the two, wondering why Naruto didn't like the idea of the river. It was as if he _wanted to avoid it._ 'If this is related to him having foresight and wishing to avoid the river, then I need to accept the fact that danger could be lurking close to this water body. I could just say we try to avoid it but it would create some sort of suspicion with the others, like why would we avoid taking an easy alternative? But if he can't predict the future, then it would be a waste, as not everyone can see through the fog as well as I, going merely by the groundless paranoia of one student.

They continued walking by the river and Kakashi was torn between his decisions. 'A shot in the dark. A big gamble. If he's right, and we're making a mistake, then I would be confirming that he has foresight. To what gain? To some unwanted danger? If not, we'll be safe, and he can't predict the future, or at least not one hundred percent accurately.'

He came to a decision. "We'll follow the river. I'll take point, Tazuna-san in the center, Sakura and Sasuke to the sides and Naruto bring up the rear."

"Hai."(x3)

Naruto seemed almighty reluctant and Sasuke noticed. "What's the matter, scared of some water?"

"Don't be foolish. It's just…I just gotta feeling. That's all."

"What is it, young man?" Tazuna asked, now being put on edge. "Premonition or something?"

Kakashi tried to keep the peace and nerves calm. "Now, now. We'll be fine." 'There he goes again. Am I making the right choice?'

"Sure we will." Some sarcasm leaked into his voice.

They continued walking for another ten minutes, the fog starting to increase in density. All of a sudden Kakashi heard the sound of something cleaving the air heading towards them. He had practically been raised on the battlefield to recognize what that meant.

"Everyone! Duck!"

The genin were mostly caught off guard but to some extent, they complied instantly along with their sensei. Tazuna, however, was not prepared for such an event. He remained standing.

Naruto was crouching on the balls of his feet and grasped the man's ankles and savagely pulled on them towards him. The deed made the man fall flat to his chest and face albeit painfully. The massive cleaver that made it's entry out of the fog passed over them all who were lying down but Naruto who was crouching was 'fortunate' enough to only lose a few hairs off the top of his head. The massive blade half-cut into the tree and a man appeared on top of it.

Naruto spun halfway and stood, as did the others. Now, it was he who was at the front and his sensei at the back, facing a tall man who wore bandages over the lower half of his face that came around his neck as well, akin to a scarf. He was shirtless but he wore arm-warmers and a belt over his chest along with fairly baggy pants with a Kiri-style striped pattern.

"Hey you!"

The man who was scrutinizing the group in general focused most of his attention to the golden-haired boy. "Hmm?"

"Do you know what the fuck you just did?! No one, and I mean no one is supposed to touch a single hair on my head except me!"

"Hmph. Tall talking brat. Do you know who _I am_?"

Kakashi stepped to the fore while ushering Naruto to the side. "Momochi Zabuza." "Momochi Zabuza."

All eyes turned to the blond again who had announced the name at the same time as Kakashi. The silver haired man noted that Naruto's reluctance to come this way and his knowing the man's identity had to be proof that Naruto knew the future. However the moment was a bit spoilt due to what he yelled next.

"Yeah. Momochi Zabuza. The _prick_ who cut my hair!"

"Tell you what, brat, how about I use Kubikiribōchō take some more off the top." The man said with complete seriousness, hinting that he was going to behead him if he didn't keep quiet. Not wishing to anger the man unnecessarily, Kakashi decided to 'talk down' the man.

"What's your business with us? We have no quarrel with you."

"Oh, but I do." He allowed himself to drop off his sword and with the greatest of ease and took out the blade out of the tree by the handle and pointed it at them, holding it completely straight. "My business…is to kill the bridge builder, and anyone who gets in my way."

"Overly dramatic, isn't it?"

His genin teammates actually sweat-dropped, despite the mess they were now in and Zabuza growled. "None the less, Sharingan no Kakashi, just leave Tazuna where he is, and I won't have to kill all of you."

'Sharingan no Kakashi? He's no Uchiha. How does he have that moniker?' Sasuke mused.

"Nonsense." Naruto said, all mirth having now left his voice. He was now as serious as a judge. "Knowing your background, you want to kill our sensei, even if we did just 'hand over the bridge builder.' Knowing his moniker, you knew of his bingo book entry and would still wish to kill him, just for the extra money, along with fulfilling your original duty as Gato's lackey."

"What?!"

"Oh, don't act surprised. But there's one thing that you _should_ know."

"And what's that?"

Kakashi looked to his genin, doubts starting to grow. He discretely lifted up his headband and revealed a red sharingan eye with three tomoe while the boy continued speaking.

"I have won before. You… **will not win here**. I have already WON!" He yelled while smirk/grinning, cracking his fingers very audibly. His gaze leveled with the man's own, neither giving any ground or showing weakness. Zabuza soon began to chuckle.

"Brat, you must be really fuckin' crazy. But if you're not, then you're not far. This is the first time I've seen the likes of you, and there's only one person I've ever fought and lost." The fog grew thicker as it swirled in from the river close by. "And you're not him."

Naruto said nothing.

The fog began to grow thicker than ever before and killing intent washed over the group as the ex Mist-nin started to speak, his voice being eerily cast all around without a central point.

" **There are eight vital points-"**

"Shut the fuck up and get on with it. No one wants to hear you monologue." Naruto interrupted, frowning like a bull. Kakashi decided that Naruto was getting to be too much of a liability and needed to stop talking. He needed to be able to hear Zabuza stalking them but the man was a master of the silent killing.

Momochi lost his patience.

Like an unearthly specter, he was behind Naruto and Kakashi and already swinging his massive sword at waist height. Kakashi spun around when he sensed the sword and was already leaping away. Somehow, in the back of his mind, he trusted Naruto to have some trick up his sleeve. He hoped so. He _really_ hoped so.

Naruto leant back suddenly while turning sharply one foot. He did it both simultaneously and by the time his back was almost on the ground, he was fully turned and was sending a driving toe kick to Zabuza's fingers gripping the hilt.

He had successfully ducked the massive sword and in the process, by kicking his hand, the man lost gripping on the massive sword and it swung off into the fog, making a loud noise wherever it had landed.

"What do you call a swordsman of the mist without his legendary sword?" Naruto asked, while rolling backwards with his elbow over his head and back to his feet.

He stared unflinchingly at the man's rage filled eyes. "You call him Zabuza."

The man growled and in a blur, sent a powerful right hook at the boy's jaw which Naruto avoided easily. In the meantime, everyone else was stumped at what the boy just did.

Naruto created a ten shadow clones that dashed off into the fog. Soon, their footsteps grew multiple and thunderous before they faded away. Naruto smirked when this happened.

"What are you smirkin' at brat?!" He slipped out a kunai from one of his arm warmers and lunged with it at the boy but Naruto sidestepped it before leaping backwards. Kakashi, now sure that he had lost track of whatever's been going on sprinted to front of Zabuza and the two men began a bout kunai-fighting, sparks gashing every time their ninja knives clashed. Naruto merely watched them before he spoke again to Zabuza.

"Nonetheless, Momochi, you should cut your losses and leave."

The 'Demon of the Hidden Mist' growled. "And why should I?"

"About a week ago, I was carrying some shuriken in a storage seal. But the paper seal tore on accident and I lost it. It was gone. Gone forever. It was brand new shuriken, too." He said poetically.

"Naruto! This is not the (Grunt) Time!" Kakashi yelled.

"Hear me out. So each of my ten clones created four more and there are now fifty of them running around…"

"What's your point (Grunt) you little fuck-tard?!"

Naruto grinned. "One of them has your precious sword in a storage seal. And they are all running to fifty different places."

The man froze. In his error, Kakashi's kunai slipped past his and sliced into his arm, drawing blood instantly. Zabuza quickly jumped back to the river and stood on it, awing the two still-watching genin. Kakashi looked to Naruto out of the corner of his eye(s).

"That's good, Naruto. Have them destroy the sword!" He started releasing some of his chakra to disperse most of the effects of the fog so they could see.

"Well… the thing is… I don't wanna do that. I believe that sword is now a really expensive relic and I could use the money. I'm getting kinda tired of fighting with household supplies. But I can't manage a sword like that. So, I did the next best thing."

"You think I need my sword to kill you all?! You must be dumber than you look. I'll just kill you first so the clones all dispel. They won't get far." He started going through handseals in a movement so fast they looked like one. " **Suiton: Jusei**!" (Water release: Gunshot) He spat large globs of water that propelled through the air at high speed, mostly centered on Naruto. The boy dodged them all by 'stretching' as if he were limbering up for a long exercise. He did a jumping jack to hop over one, 'cricked' his neck to turn his head to avoid another. Soon, he ducked another to the chest by bending at the waist and touched his toes. Zabuza grew angrier and made a five 'gunshot' volley, certain that the boy couldn't avoid it.

Naruto 'saw' something interesting on the ground a few feet away and walked over to pick it up. "Oh look! A ryo! You gotta save one to earn one!" He gazed over to where Zabuza was stewing in anger. "Well…shit. Did I miss something important? Wasn't really payin' attention y'know."

Zabuza looked at the area behind the blond and surveyed the destruction his jutsu had caused, denting trees and rocks and gouging out dirt. The man completely lost it. Needless to say, Tazuna actually mustered up the nerve to cover Sakura's ears when the long stream of curses came out of the man's mouth.

Zabuza, having vented his frustration and now worried for his sword's whereabouts, went through more handseals. Kakashi started going through them as well. After what seemed a long moment, both called out their technique.

" **Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu**!" " **Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu**!" (Water release: Water dragon technique)

Two large water dragons rose up out of the deep river-water and each rushed to their foe. In order to save themselves, they each man manipulated their jutsus to crash into each other. They both exploded into large deluges of water that threatened to wash away the others. They all fell down to maintain a low centre of gravity to remain where they were but they were all ignored.

Kakashi, not losing a beat flashed through five handseals. " **Raiton: Jibashi**!" (Lightening release: Electromagnetic murder) Lightening arced from his hand to the wet ground and channeled from it to the river where Zabuza was still standing.

The man, seeing where this was going, leapt off the river to a tree and noted the man's usage of lightening release chakra. 'I'm severely outclassed right now. I've lost Kubikiribōchō and Hatake uses raiton. I wonder where Haku is.' He eyed Tazuna, still trying to get up off the wet ground. He remembered his original objective and chucked the kunai at insane speeds while resorting to using **Jusei** to keep Kakashi occupied.

Kakashi had to strafe left to avoid the water gunshots but Tazuna was off to his right. 'I'm getting too sloppy. Need to save Tazuna, not just my own skin. Not to mention my genin.' He threw his own kunai at Zabuza's to intercept it but a high speed **Jusei** deflected it by pure chance, just as it left his hand. The ninja knife fell harmlessly to the ground, leaving the Bridge builder to gawk at the kunai heading for him.

Sasuke steeled himself and stepped in front of the middle aged man and deflected the kunai to the side with his own. The action made Tazuna and Kakashi sigh in relief but it made the nuke Nin from Kiri fume. He formed the dog handseal and created ten water clones and all of them bomb-rushed the travelers.

Naruto quickly unsealed what looked like two large cast-iron mugs and held them by the handle. The top part was covered in what looked like black plastic bags as a film. "Watch me end this!"

Six of the water clones headed for him, three for Kakashi and one for Tazuna. Sasuke easily took care of his with a fireball after it got occupied with countering some shuriken Sakura had thrown. Kakashi started to move around constantly to avoid getting impaled with kunai courtesy of the four Zabuza's, tearing his eyes away from Naruto and the rest of his charges to focus and keeping himself alive.

Naruto didn't mind.

The six clones ran at him in a 'V' formation and the boy ran at them likewise. Just before he was about to get stabbed by a kunai to the chest, he sidestepped it and struck the clone at it's chin with the wrought-iron cup while in the same motion, thrust kicking another clone with his right foot, using a thrust kick to the groin. The kick dissipated the clone without much effort and the Uzumaki found himself having to lean forward and step to keep his balance. The remaining four clones, not about to waste such an opportunity closed in from four directions in a perfect 'X'.

Sakura gasped as she saw Naruto get stabbed from four places but instead of blood splattering, he poofed away into smoke, revealing nothing but a small blue ball that bounced on the ground briefly. The Zabuza clones stared at the object before they were blown and ripped apart by a tile-shrapnel explosion. On reflex, the two genin raised their hands over their faces.

'Kawarimi. Classic Naruto." Sakura thought.

Sasuke started entertaining the idea of getting more involved in the fight but he believed he would only get in the way. But no way was he just going to just sit around on the sidelines doing nothing than just watch!

He went through several handseals, ending on tiger before bringing his hand to his mouth in an 'o'. " **Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu**!" (Fire release: Fireball technique) He blew a medium sized fireball jutsu to where Zabuza and Kakashi (plus water clones) were fighting. While it traveled, Naruto appeared by jumping out of a nearby tree and started running in the shadow of the fireball. He was a mere four feet away behind it and he kept up the same distance as it made its way to the men.

"What is he doing?" Tazuna wondered.

The two genin were stumped as they watched the spectacle.

The fireball was noticed by the men and each leapt away from each other to avoid it. The two water clones who had their backs turned to the fireball in their previous efforts to flank the Copy Ninja were destroyed and as the third sidestepped it, Naruto decked it in the neck with his left cup while tossing the right one to Kakashi. Befuddled, he caught it in his left hand as his right one was gripping a kunai.

"Wha…What is this?" The silver haired man yelled.

The boy continued running past before he angled a foot in front of him and skidded on the ground to a stop before jumping to the his side. The boy didn't say anything but glance to his own cup repeatedly. Kakashi took the hint and saw what looked like instructions engraved on his:

 _1: Channel chakra._

 _2: Point after four seconds and hold on tight._

 _3: Have a nice day!_

The man was stumped at what it meant until he saw what looked like a small arrow that ran along the side that pointed at the opening of the cup where the film was. Come to think of, it sounded like something was rattling inside.

'What the hell happens after four seconds? Leave it to him to confuse enemies should he go up against them with these gadgets of his. Wait…four seconds? Must be an explosive tag inside or something. But why the hell would I hold unto it?' The man mused, now alarmed.

"Naruto." He stared at Zabuza while whispering to the boy next to him. "What-"

"Hold onto it." The boy interrupted grimly. "You attack first with yours and I'll finish him with mine. He can't block it!" He whispered back through clenched teeth to ensure that the Mist-nin didn't catch on.

"Go back to the others, Naruto." He said calmly.

"Trust me!"

The man hesitated. Did he trust the boy beside him? Dare he trust him?

"Alright. I'm first then." He nodded to Naruto before he dashed off to engage Zabuza with his right kunai, with the man, most enthusiastically, agreed to by trying to stab the man in the chest with his.

The clash came incredibly easy to the Hatake. With his sharingan being used, he spotted all openings he could exploit but the man covered these as best he could. Although Zabuza lacked a lot of experience using kunais to fight with using Kubikiribōchō instead, he was still a formidable opponent.

"What's that for, Kakashi? You gonna (Grunt) have a tea-party with your brats?" The nuke Nin taunted. In the same moment, he had to duck the same iron mug before it brained him. Kakashi channeled a little chakra into the cup and started counting down the seconds on his internal body clock.

4…

He slashed at the man with his kunai but the man 'caught' it on the hilt of his and made it slid off.

…3…

As Kakashi rectified his error, he struck the man's knife-hand with the mug to disable the man before he got stabbed.

…2…

The man held on to his kunai, not going to make the same mistake twice and let go of his weapon again….besides, it was his last kunai. He had it in an iron grip now and stabbed with it at the Hatake which his antagonist slapped away with the steel covering on his wrist. In the same moment, Zabuza grabbed the man's mug-hand which he was attempting to strike him with in the head.

…1…

Zabuza was incredibly strong by wielding his extremely heavy blade and forced down the man's hand with sheer strength. Kakashi, growing worried that he wasn't going to land a fatal hit, submitted partially, the container now pointing at Zabuza's leg.

An explosion erupted from the iron mug and all Zabuza knew was searing pain in his right thigh. He nearly yelled in agony but all he let be heard audibly was a stifled grunt and a groan. Blood pooled to the surface in his leg and fell in a pitter-patter to the ground, beginning to paint the ground crimson. Both men glanced down at the injured leg, only to find a multitude of bits and pieces of tile embedded in his leg. Some were below the skin but others protruded, allowing the whole world to see what a gory mess there was to behold.

Naruto began running to the two men as soon as he heard his creation go off. Zabuza's eyes widened when he saw the boy running with what could be called 'The Cup of Death.' He leapt back and grimaced as pain arced from his leg when his injured leg protested. Regardless, he still wasn't able to stop the boy from thrusting his own mug at him. Instinctively, he raised his arm to protect his chest in a 'v'.

 **Boom**!

Pain once again rained supreme but it was now centered in his arm that he used to block. His arm looked shredded and quite a few pieces had gone through and his block into his chest. There, although they drew blood, they were unable to fully pierce and they jutted out from his chest gruesomely.

"Gahhh! (Growl)" He glared at the boy and lunged with his still good arm right at the boy's eyes with the kunai. Naruto merely brought back the empty cup in front of his face and caught the knife right into it. The kunai failed to pass through the thick base of the mug and the man decided that enough was enough. He needed to leave but where was Haku-

Two senbon took him in the throat and his eyes rolled up to whites. The man toppled over backwards, motionless. Without any warning, some other ninja fell out of a tree close to Zabuza and grabbed the man. Before Kakashi could yell for them to stop what they were doing, the two ninja shunshinned away to who-knows-where.

"Well… shit. Didn't see that coming." Naruto said.

 **And…scene. Clues were dropped. Keep guessing.**

 **I cut it here deliberately because right now, I'm getting drawn into 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 3' and frankly, 'I got bullets in mags, and bodies are absent from bags.' Something needs emptying, and another thing needs filling. Get me?**

 **As you can see, I overpowered Naruto a lot since the start of the story and as you can tell, it's because of whatever ability he's got. In the scene, I underpowered Zabuza as well to make them fight on somewhat similar terms.**

 **A lot of things were changed in this chapter and I hope you enjoyed them. I did try to keep everyone in character and soon, Kakashi's going to start asking questions, and you'll get your answers. Also, the whole 'mug' weapon will be explained next chapter. Along with the predictable 'Inari's a whiny brat' theme.**

 **That's all folks. R and R.**

 **Sayonara.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Living Twice**

 **It's been a fortnight. I've gotten some guesses, musings and reviewers ruminating on what the ability is. Naruto, what have you got to say for yourself, huh?**

 **Naruto: Quit pestering me or I'm gonna shoot you with my mug.**

 **Me: You don't have one with you now.**

 **Naruto: That's because you're drinking your goddamn coffee from it. Give it back so I can-**

 **Me: Nope. Need it so I can fuel my insomnia-filled writing ability. *Sip* Tough luck.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own this prick trying to kill me, nor his anime. However, I've been owning people in Black Ops 3, and will continue to do so. Heh heh. Automatic shotguns. Yeah.**

 **7!**

Naruto walked over to Kakashi, a bit on edge. He resealed his mug and took back the one from his sensei while continuing to look all around. "Kami. That just came out of nowhere!"

Kakashi did not answer. He merely recovered his sharingan eye and watched the mist recede and finally disappear as if it had never existed. He then gazed over to his other two genin who stood, watching the transpiring events with a kunai in their hands to guard Tazuna. The bridge builder had eagerly watched the happenings, which was vaguely surprising.

The man excused himself from behind the genin and ran as a man of his stature could over to the two males who fought Zabuza. "You two were amazing! You beat him!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile as well. Yeah. We are pretty awesome, huh Sensei?"

Said teacher was lost in his thoughts. His visible eye looked over the entire area of the battlefield. Only two things stood out in his mind.

One, Naruto having foresight.

Two. Why did someone throw senbon needles at the nuke-nin's neck and immediately flee with the body?

"It's been a trying day. Let's just get Tazuna-san to his house." The Hatake suggested. "Tazuna-san, do we still need to follow the river seeing that there is no longer a mist?"

"N…No." The man answered. "Just follow me. There's a shortcut, a foot-beaten path if you wish. We should be at my home in maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, whereas the river was forty."

"Good. Lead the way please. I'll walk alongside this time. Sasuke, bring up the rear this time while Naruto and Sakura will walk just behind the client and I."

"Hai."(X3)

"Let's get moving, then."

They started walking briskly, eager to just get to the home. Sasuke and Sakura kept to Naruto's waist, where he had had seals done in on his pants and on fabrics that hung from his belt. They were intrigued by yet another of his 'inventions' or 'eccentric weapons' as he had fancied them, now eager to find out if he had any more.

"Naruto, what kind of weapon was that?"

"The bomb ball, Sakura?"

"No! That mug…thing."

"Oh! I call it a mugshot. Couldn't find anything else to name it."

"I'm going to be frank, Naruto." Kakashi commented. "I panicked when that thing went off in my hands."

"I panic every time I use it too, sensei."

"Wasn't this the first time you're using it, Naruto?" Sasuke queried. "This is the first I've seen it."

"I had to test it, didn't I?"

The silver-haired man paled under his mask. "How come you haven't lost an arm or more?"

"Fortunately, I got it right the first time."

'Gets things right the first time. I've got to ask him. Although the second ninja that popped up surprised him, I think he has some sort of foresight ability. I'll just wait until we're in private. If he is or does, the last thing I want is this getting out.'

"How did you figure out the mechanics for that?"

"It was easy, Sensei. I just got Mr. Higurashi to superheat one regular metal tumbler and fit it inside the mug for extra strength and durability. The cups are then 'fused together' per say and they stick. Then inside that I put in a D rank explosive tag, balled up and glued to the bottom of the inside. It has to stay there, cause, if it jiggles around and goes to the top…well…"

"We get the idea."

"Then I put in some ceramic tile, bagged up in some plastic and placed on top. Then I cover the top with some fabric, to keep everything inside."

"But it was a black plastic taped to the top."

"That's _taped over_ the fabric. That's for cunning. Y'know, in case you can just fool someone that the cup is empty. Or maybe has dark liquid inside."

"If they tried to drink from that, it would blow a man's head off!" Tazuna cried in mortification.

"Well. I don't recommend using this weapon for clean kills. However, it's fine if you want to paint a wall behind someone red."

Sakura quickly caught on to what he was saying. "Ugh. Leave it to you to find a way to kill someone like that!"

"You're going to have to kill eventually, Sakura."

"Hn." 'Maybe something like this could take Itachi by surprise. If Naruto continues to excel at making these farfetched gadgets of his, there's no chance that he would have experienced or seen it before.'

"Anyway," Tazuna said suddenly. "We're here in the village. Home sweet home."

They all stared at the village that at the very least was described by what Naruto said next. "Uh huh. Dump sweet dump."

"Naruto! See and blind; hear and deaf!" Sakura exclaimed.

"No, no. He's right. At least now you see what I want to do and why." Tazuna stated. "Lets keep moving. My home is not far now."

Needless to say, in five minutes, they had arrived at Tazuna's quaint home. The man opened the door and let them inside and each of them took off their footwear at the doorway, depositing them in a beer crate. As if on cue, Tazuna's daughter entered the room from another, wielding a broom.

"Oh! I nearly thought that it was a thief again!" She exclaimed, anxiously sighing.

"It is only I, musume. This is the team of ninja that I went to the Leaf to hire."

"More like bamboozle." Sakura muttered under her breath.

Naruto strode forward. "You have a lovely home…" He trailed off, hinting so he could get her name.

The woman smiled as she put her broom back in a corner. "Tsunami."

"…Tsunami-san. My name's Naruto, this guy here's Sasuke and she's Sakura. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

"What about sensei? Doesn't he get an introduction too?" The pinkette frowned.

"He went back out again. Didn't you see him leave?" It was now Naruto's turn to frown. He had thought it obvious. Was the girl that far behind in her observation skills and all around ninja-capabilities?

She blushed a little in embarrassment. "N…No."

"I'm going to find him." The blond put on his sandals again and went outside, leaving the others inside to converse quietly among themselves. Immediately, Tazuna began regaling his tale about how the ninja fought each other, particularly focused on Naruto taking on people more 'dangerous' than he.

 **With Naruto**

The boy walked outside, inhaling deeply. The wind blowing in from the sea had a pungent aroma that seemed to relax him. His nerves had been badly disheveled ever since that ninja took down Zabuza. Needless to say, he had never been that startled since he was ten years old. There wasn't much that could surprise him but that… came completely out of nowhere.

'Wait a minute.'

He started analyzing all the battle details before he realized that there was a new memory.

'Someone dispatched one of my clones? Or did the clone trip or something?'

Out of fifty clones, one was destroyed and it was the one heading for Konoha.

The one with Zabuza's sword in the storage seal.

"Shit!" Naruto yelled. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" He stomped with each word shouted, punctuating it clearly in the dirt. "What the hell?!"

"Easy there, Naruto."

"Wha?!" He looked around wildly before he settled on his teacher sitting on a tree branch. "Oh. Hey sensei."

"Take it easy on the language. And everyone's hearing. You're not on your own out here, y'know."

"That's what I'm afraid of." He jumped up onto the branch as well and sat beside him, staring forward. "I've got bad news."

"What is it?" Kakashi got the feeling that he didn't want to know. 'Damn. Naruto's usually calm and collected. Must be really serious.'

"The shadow clone carrying Zabuza's sword in the seal got destroyed. And it was making good time back to Konoha too. Not only am I still going to be broke, someone has the sword and if he continues to wield it, we just might get bisected if he's working for Gato."

"Uh huh. No need to worry about that. I'll handle Zabuza." 'If Naruto could disarm him, I suppose I can too. Worse comes to worse, I use **Raikiri** and fight at close range before killing him. But why was he surprised? Frightened? If he can see the future or something like that, nothing should surprise him.'

"You will? Shouldn't he be dead? I mean, some other ninja just swooped in and killed him and left. Must've been after the bounty or something." Naruto asked, a tad perplexed.

"Nope. He's alive. I've seen professionals kill people with senbon before. They always go for the eyes, or the vitals in the upper torso, like your heart. Those needles didn't go anywhere near his jugular veins or other major blood vessels in the neck."

"Well, to hell with that. In all this, I don't get to but any new shuriken." 'Maybe I could make some more money doing 'that'. I just hate it so much. Don't understand why Ayame-nee would do it though.'

The Hatake sighed. 'Here goes.' "Naruto, can you see the future?"

"Yup!"

"Of course! That's why I don't get startled. DID I LOOK LIKE I EXPECTED THAT NINJA TO KILL ZABUZA!" He yelled.

"Uhh…" The man was at a loss for words. He didn't detect any lies right there but… he didn't give a straightforward answer. 'Boy's smart. He's mixing in a truth and a lie to mix them up. He's also using raw emotions to make it hard to look for physical proof that he was lying, like pupil dilation and heart rate.'

"I need a yes or no, Naruto. This is serious. Ever since I met you, you know things that shouldn't have know already, knowing what to do, when to do it and where. This is just between you and me. There's no one else here. You asked me to trust you today. I allowed a _genin_ to fight alongside me against a nuke-nin, _The Demon of the Hidden Mist_ , Zabuza Momochi and you can't trust me?"

Naruto paused at this. He was really careful about telling others about things, trying to avoid cluing them in. Kakashi was a legend in his own right, obviously figuring it out from watching him, noting his habits no doubt. Perhaps he already knew was for him to confirm it.

"H…hai."

"Ho-"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss how I know future events. I don't trust you that much. Besides, how do I know that you won't blab this to the Hokage. You are under oath to tell all that happens on a mission and I **don't** need this conversation on paperwork for all to see." Naruto looked to the other side, away from Kakashi's gaze. He was a bit afraid he'd lose his resolve.

"That's all I really wanted to hear. Maybe not now, but I hope that someday you can trust me with any details. Right now, I just wanted to be sure that I can trust your judgment and decisions." The man sighed heavily. "You were the one who said that it was your dream to be wise and always make the best decisions. I said it was impossible. You replied that all one needs was a little foresight."

"I did say that."

"Well, I hope you don't regret telling me!" The Hatake eye smiled. "By the way, should I carry an umbrella tomorrow if it's going to rain?"

"It's complicated. By changing some things, other things happen. Like how you got Sasuke killed."

"What? I killed Sasuke?" The eye smile fell into an eye frown. "Why would… I didn't…what…"

"Calm down, and stop making a fool of yourself. It was an accident. But most importantly, it happened today."

"I don't understand-"

"Your test." Naruto said heatedly. "Your test with the Demon brothers killed him."

"Naruto." The man ran his fingers through his hair backwards, now frazzled. "I don't understand. I… how did I kill him? It didn't happen."

"It didn't happen because **I** saved Sakura."

"Well, either you're crazy, or I'm crazy, or we're both crazy." Kakashi was about to leave by jumping down when Naruto grabbed his elbow.

"Listen very carefully."

The jounin did not answer.

"I knew we were going to get attacked by those three chunin. I created the clone as soon as we left the Leaf and it followed behind us so it could defend Sakura."

 **WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED**

"One down." The man with the scythe grinned in a smirk as he regarded the dead man. "And the rest will follow."

"Kakashi-sensei has been dubbed as an elite ninja. He's not dead." Naruto mouthed the words to his teammates who set their faces.

…

He flipped the scythe deftly to make a reaping motion and raised it over his head to swing it. As he brought it to down in a diagonal slash, she ducked to the inside of it, trying to stay clear of it. As the momentum of the weapon brought it down, he merely used the handle and slammed her in the face with it. Fortunately, it was mostly negated because it had struck her hitai ate but the pain of it was concussive regardless.

To her growing horror, she began to see doubles and the man ready to swing the weapon again as hard as he could. She had lost her depth perception and silently prayed for her sensei to intervene. Suddenly, the blur of someone came into being between her and the scythe toting man.

At first, she thought it was Sasuke, but the colors did not match, nor did the size. This person, while they had on dark blue, it was on their lower torso. Their upper torso was a blurred green and she could make out the grey on top.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She cried out in relief.

Said man caught the sickle by the handle with one hand and thrust-kicked the man in the gut, knocking all of his wind out of him. The man wheezed out a gasp and toppled backwards, releasing his weapon.

In fact, the entrance of his teacher close by made Sasuke looked to where the fallen man had made a 'thud' unto his back.

That was his error.

"Never take your eyes off who you're fighting, boy!" Gozu yelled as he launched his shuriken chain at Sasuke. The boy quickly looked back to the Demon Brother but as he did he tried to stop the shuriken with his kunai to keep it from hitting his chest, since it was already too late to dodge.

While he was successful in keeping it from hitting his chest, the shuriken struck the kunai and slightly deflected, embedding itself partially into the Uchiha's upper-arm.

"Gahh!"

He quickly pulled it out, but the damage was already done. Gozu tried to retract the chain but he ended up with a kunai hitching itself in his throat, courtesy of Kakashi. The man choked on his own blood as it bled outside, as well as inside into his windpipe. Seeing this distracted Meizu briefly and he got his throat cut, done in by Naruto's blade-baton.

Kakashi quickly ran over to Sasuke and held him by the healthy shoulder. "Aw, shit. It's probably poisoned." He muttered with rising horror and scaring the others. He quickly searched Gozu and Meizu's bodies for an antidote but found none. Kakashi grabbed the scythe-man by the collar and held him up.

"Where's the antidote?!" He all but yelled into the man's face while releasing killing intent.

"We never needed one." The man chuckled a little. "We poisoned ourselves a little each day until we got used to it. We didn't need one for us, why would we carry one for other-"

Kakashi broke the man's neck and without another word, grabbed Sasuke and immediately began dashing to the Leaf Village as fast as he could to get Sasuke treated.

 **WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED (END)**

"But as the saying goes, no medicine, or doctor had skill enough to save his life in time." Naruto muttered to Kakashi, who had an unbelieving air. He really, really didn't want to believe it but it made so much sense. He was now…afraid.

"I nearly got the last Uchiha killed today." He mumbled.

"Uh huh. The worst part is, he died with his sharingan activated but I assume that no one would want to take his eyes, seeing that he got poisoned. Uh huh; he activated it when he saw the shuriken chain heading for his chest. While I don't know what happened to you, all I know from my point of view, was that Sakura and I escorted Tazuna back to the Leaf, where we found out that he died. Tazuna got squat and forced to leave the village, Sasuke died, team got broken up and all because of you're little test."

The man did not say anything.

"Who knows?" Naruto continued. "Maybe Zabuza did him in quick and painless. He is known for that, you know. Although he probably died afraid-"

"I get it, Naruto." The man sighed. "Just, leave me alone. I've got a lot on my mind."

"I probably have more than you. How do you think it makes me feel, huh? I actually experienced that. All you got was me telling you what would have happened. So I don't want any flak from you telling me to leave you alone."

"You don't understand. Oh Kami. It's… the same damn event. I nearly got my team-members…killed." Kakashi shunshinned away, leaving Naruto alone in the tree.

Naruto scratched his head, wondering what the hell happened. 'Same damn event? So it's not the first time he got or nearly got his team-members killed. Guess there's a lot more to sensei than him reading porn and having a sharingan eye. He must be dealing with some really heavy shit.'

He let himself drop out of the tree in a perfect _**safety tap**_ before standing fully erect, arms crossed. 'This is getting dangerous. If things continue to change like they did today, I won't be prepared for every eventuality. I'll need to train harder. I need a larger jutsu repertoire, taijutsu might and even better reaction times; not just knowing what my opponent will do but having the reflexes necessary for something I wasn't originally prepared for.'

Without any further ado, he spawned half-dozen shadow clones, which began chucking stones at him.

 **At dinner-time**

Inari had fled to his room long ago. They had realized this when Tazuna finished his tale about Kaiza the 'Hero of Wave'.

"And after he was killed, Gato started increasing his influence. Over time, things just degenerated to the condition you see it in now. That's why I want to build the bridge."

Naruto stroked his bruised chin. "Why didn't you just hire an assassination squad to kill him while you still had the money? Instead now, the bridge costs a whole lot more to build, not to mention the manpower needed."

"Don't even mention that part." Tazuna heaved a sigh as he said this. "The workers were getting real antsy and scared before I left to hire ninja in the leaf. I can't imagine what they're like now, not to mention if they'll continue to work or not. The only good news is that all the material for the bridge was found on this island. We had a quarry on the south-east end of here."

"Had?"

"We exhausted it to get the resources."

"Ah."

Tsunami got up and started gathering everyone's plates. The place that was set for Kakashi was still untouched and under a dish-cover; he had never come back in. No one asked or said anything pertaining to this; he could be about somewhere doing 'ninja stuff' presumably.

"Arigatou. Although I was 'bout ready to do it myself."

"It's no trouble, Naruto-san."

Sakura stared at her teammate curiously, observing the multitude of bruises on his person. Especially on his hands but he had a few on his face. "Naruto, where'd you get those bruises?"

"I got stoned."

"Stoned…?"

She got no further response.

Mealtime had come to an end so the Uzumaki went outside under the tree with his backpack and sat down in a half-slouch. He then removed a tin with some ceramic tiles, a small roll of explosive tags, some fabric and a roll of black sheet plastic. Finally, he unsealed his mugs from his waist with his right hand while fishing around in the backpack with his left. Finally, he retrieved a small bottle of glue and a pair of scissors.

It took him ten minutes to finish 'reloading' the mugs and place the black plastic over it for the guile. When he had completed the task, he looked up and saw Kakashi sitting on the roof with his feet over the edge. Both held each other's eyes for a moment before Naruto broke it and placed everything back where it came from. After resealing the mugs and placing the scissors back, he felt his hand close around something small and round in his bag.

He quickly took out the now familiar-feeling object and looked over the round marble-like piece of iron. He smiled a bit, thinking of the uses he would have for it in the future. Kakashi on the other hand, looking down at the genin wondered if he was smiling because he knew of something good happening.

'Nah. It's Naruto. What could he be smiling for? My sensei, his father and his mother's dead. He's truly an enigma.'

Naruto placed the metal in a side pocket of the bag before going inside and prepped himself for bed, falling asleep at six pm in their assigned room.

 **Unknown Location**

The hands worked quickly.

They quickly lowered the ninja on the table, and removed all clothing that obstructed their work. Using a pair of pre-sanitized scissors, they cut through the fabric and soon, the scissors was swapped with makeshift tweezers held in one hand. A senbon needle was held in the other.

They soon dug out a large piece of ceramic tile from the offended thigh while the 'surgeon' used the tweezers to hold the tile close to their masked face. 'Oh Kami. Just look at that! What if they're poisoned?'

The senbon was placed down on the table and the white mask was then removed with the same hand. A beautiful face was revealed, with deep brown eyes and framed by two locks of hair held I place by small metal bands.

The person held the bloodied tile to their nose and smelt it. 'Hmm. It doesn't smell as it were."

They resumed quickly, pulling out all the tiles out of the leg. Quite a few times, they had to be careful around the major arteries and veins. Especially around the femoral artery in the leg.

In the past and even till now, that specific artery hadn't received as much 'notoriety' as the jugular in the neck. Arguably, the jugular was responsible for the bloodstream linking the brain and other carotid arteries and veins, but the femoral could make a man bleed out just as fast, and probably more 'efficiently.'

This was why the caution was extremely thick.

Finally finishing the work on the injured leg, they went to work on the arm used to block the second attack. The arm looked absolutely horrible. Flesh was gone in some places, hung loosely in others. Couple that with the blood loss from the arm, potential bone and nerve damage…plus the chest that had a few places hit…

The ninja sighed. It was going to be a long night.

 **XxX**

Sixteen hours later, the ninja operated on was in a relatively better condition with bandages wrapped around the chest, arm and leg. The one who performed said medical work finally pulled out two senbon needles in the neck, gingerly and carefully. With that deed done, they slowly walked over to a nearby chair and soon fell asleep, losing the fight to exhaustion.

No sooner had their eyes closed they were opened again. A stocky, short man wearing a pin-striped blue business suit was poking Zabuza with his cane. His two goons were on both sides of Zabuza and conversing to each other quietly.

Anger flared inside as the ninja responsible for Zabuza stood up so quickly that the chair they were in was sent flying backwards and broke against the wall. It drew the attention of the three men in the room standing close by Zabuza.

"Don't you dare touch him!"

"Calm down, for fuck's sakes." Gato retorted. "I'm just trying to see if he's dead or something. He's not even breathing! I couldn't even feel a pulse!" He poked him again one last time.

In a blur, the ninja had already thrown the two goons away, making imprints in walls and had the tip of Gato's cane in front of him, pointing at the business man's throat.

"Did you not hear what I said, you swine?!"

Gato merely stared angrily at the ninja and in another second, Gato had the ninja underneath his foot.

"Know your place. I hired both of you to kill the bridge builder. Is he dead?!" The man yelled at the ninja.

Said Nin was surprised at the might and speed the tables had turned on them but did not move. The point of the cane rested on their backs, squarely over where their heart was located. They answered none-the-less.

"No. He was guarded by the Copy-Cat ninja, Kakashi Hatake. We had to pull out." They bit out angrily. They were upset for being overwhelmed so easily.

"Kakashi Hatake? I think I heard of him before." Gato released his weight off his antagonist's back. "Get up, Haku."

Haku complied and got up off of the ground, glaring at their boss. "What. Is it?"

"Is Zabuza really dead?"

"No. I just placed him in a death like state so he could be fully unconscious while I worked on him."

"Good." Gato nodded. "I still need the two of you to kill the bridge builder. I'd do it myself but I can't get my hands dirty with this one. I've had too many inquiries into my business already by the so called 'Law abiding' Ninjas from close-by Elemental nations like the Mist. I want him dead in thirty days. If he's not dead by then and he finishes the bridge, you only get half the money and you still have to kill him. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hai."

"'Hai' what." Gato said, releasing some killer intent."

"Hai _Gato-sama_."

"Good." The man made an about turn and while he was midway to the door, he called out to his 'bodyguards.' "Lets go, you idiots."

The men struggled to get back to their feet and followed their boss out, leaving Haku alone. In the room, all one could hear was the slow, gritting sound of someone grinding their teeth together.

"I can't kill him myself. I need Zabuza-sama's help. That so-called genin nearly killed him, with barely any help from his sensei while my clone had to chase down his clone to get back the sword. If the boy is capable of holding his own against Zabuza, what can the sensei do?"

Haku heaved a sigh and went to kneel down beside Zabuza, resting their head on the bed. "I… have to get Zabuza-sama back to peak fighting ability again. I'll fight by his side. And what of Gato? How was he able to subdue me like that? He's had some sort of ninja training and… perhaps it was because I was ti-"

Haku fell asleep promptly, not even getting the chance to completely finish the line of thought.

 **With Team Seven**

"Just keep trying to focus the chakra at the bottoms of your feet and run up the tree. Sakura, keep going. You need to build your reserves. Just because you did it right the second time means that you're anywhere near the boy's level with overall potential." Kakashi admonished.

"I understand, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura gave a mock salute.

"I'm not trying to be insulting, but when you get your chakra levels up to snuff, I'll teach you a jutsu. Sounds good?"

"Yeah!" The girl cheered.

"Well; get going then!" Kakashi eye-smiled before looking up to the Uzumaki at the top of his tree. "I didn't know that you knew this technique already, Naruto.

"There's plenty you don't know about me sensei." He jumped out of his tree and rolled as soon as he made contact with the ground."What do I do now?"

"I saw you…err…stoning yourself yesterday. I'm not too sure why but… go do it and continue doing that training. Once your done with that, come back to me in two days. By that time, your team should have already caught up."

"I was trying to increase my reaction time and reflexes, sensei."

"Looked more like you were trying to beat yourself up."

Sasuke reached halfway up his tree and had to back flip off when he forced himself to hard by using too much chakra. 'How come Naruto already knows this?! I'm…failing! I need to surpass all others so I can beat my traitorous brother.'

He was about to charge up the tree again when his mind turned down a new path.

'Perhaps it would be wise to just ask for help every once in a while.'

"Hey. Naruto."

"Sure. I'll tell you how to go up the tree more efficiently." The blond answered.

'How did he know that was what I wanted?' The raven haired youth thought to himself. He gazed up at the tree he was training on. Noting his ladder-like kunai markings in it, he shrugged it off. 'Maybe it was obvious.' "Since I told you how to make bunshins-"

"I said I'll help. Geez, I'm not asking for favors, or giving any. Since you're a teammate, I have an obligation." 'He'll never know how I saved his life. Truly, history will be kind.'

'Obligation?'

 **That's that. Ugh, fingers aching a bit so I got some news!**

 **I'm taking a break.**

 ***Readers yell in assorted emotions***

 **Calm down, I'll be back in January, maybe early February at the latest. Haven't I been reliable? If you enjoy my work, review. If you don't, review. If your pet died, review. Review, Review (Copy and paste.)ReviewReview ReviewReview ReviewReview ReviewReview! Also, I've dropping so many hints in the story, it's ridiculous. If you haven't guessed the details of the ability by now, you're probably gonna kick your own ass when I tell you in the story.**

 **Haku's gender? Check my profile.**

 **Gato kicked Haku's ass? Hey, I'm all about trying to type something that while it follows the general storyline, I do something that no one's tried before. Not that I know of.**

 _ **Safety tap?**_ **As a parkour traceur where I live, I believe I'm well versed in it. I also make references to such in my stories and you might want to keep a search window open so you know what I'm talking about. [What the hell's a safety tap?] {Look it up!}**

 **Finally, I hope you enjoy your…err… holidays. Be it…how did call it? Chriskwanzhanuka? Something like that… Anyway, enjoy it to the fullest and spend it with family, not on social networks.**

 **If you get tired of waiting for chapter eight, read my other stories and review. PLEASE! *Clears throat***

 _ **Happy Holidays.**_

 _ **MRAY 4TW.**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Living Twice**

 **Welcome readers! You are all involuntarily taking part of an experiment I like to call 'Universal Update'. In fact, by the time you read this very sentence, I'll have already updated four other stories and posted some poetry, all minutes apart.**

 **Yes, I am a bit overzealous when it comes to matters like this. Ol' Winnie (the computer) got cold over the holidays but now she's heating up! She's happy to slave for you all.**

 **Copy and pasted - Please note: I started** _ **yet another**_ **story, (Alvin and the Chipmunks, btw. A pleasant change of pace besides writing about kids killing people with knives and fire techniques) so the update may not always come every two weeks. I'll try, but you know that God's name isn't MRAY 4TW. Should you ever get bored, check out my other stories in the meantime. (Self-advertising: Please check out my original one-shots under the name 'Ultimatum.')**

 **Story changes: New features include : A new version of Scene Breaks and a new signature (Latin).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own 'Into the Badlands'. What? Irrelevant? I meant to say that I don't own Naruto. All of the rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hayato Date, Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo and Viz media.**

 **8.**

He walked right up the tree.

 _At a 90' angle._

Sakura and Sasuke felt badly outclassed. And tired. And pathetic. And inferior.

And the list could go on, and on, and on.

Naruto stopped, and remained stock-still halfway on the trunk. He then turned his head sideways, so at the very least his vision was level with that of his teammates. He took in their ragged countenance and frowned. "Progress seems slow." He commented.

The pinkette glared like carbon-ice. "You're moving too damn fast, is what it is!"

Sasuke didn't feel like speaking. Seeing Naruto like that made him feel extremely furious at his squad mate, himself, everything! He wasn't jeering, making a joke or anything like that. He only said it as if he was simply stating the truth.

Furious, indeed.

He ran at his own tree again and was about to perform his exercise again when Naruto jumped off of his and stood in his way. The Uchiha slid to a stop and frowned.

"Get…out…of…my…way."

"Do you even hear yourself? I've noticed, Sasuke. I've seen what you were doing. In fact, I'm wondering if Sakura over there realized it yet."

The aspiring kunoichi of the group had been squatting on her toes, trying to recover some of her overall vitality. "Noticed what? That Sasuke-kun wants you out of his way?"

Naruto shook his head. "Both of you are completely out of chakra. _At the same time_."

Her eyes widened. "But his chakra reserves are larger than mine!"

"Yeah. They are. But he's been trying to use it all up at once, using his 'max-effort' strategy, as I like to call it. That's why he piss-tired. That's his tree so gouged up from his attempts. That's why he's always forcing himself off, while you keep slipping off when you're running up." Naruto reached behind him and stroked the abused tree. "Poor, poor tree."

Sasuke stormed off into the house, leaving the two alone.

"He'll get over it." The Uzumaki said as-if to no one.

Sakura sighed. It was now day three of Naruto supervising their training. Kakashi had decided that since the bridge builder was such a high profile target, he would guard him while the older man fore-manned the building of the bridge while the three genin continued training.

She believed that their place was to be at the client's side as well to defend him. But Kakashi's word was law at the moment. It was strange though; Naruto had been the one to suggest the idea and arrangement the very first evening when he demonstrated that he had the knowledge. Kakashi looked like he would wanted to object, but Naruto seemed to have just stare at the man silently. A minute later, the Hatake agreed.

Showing that he knew the tree walking exercise perfectly, both in theory, and practically cemented the idea's carrying out, and no one had any further objections.

She herself didn't know where she stood on the team. Kakashi was a supposed legend, Sasuke was the last (loyal) Uchiha, and Naruto…

He was the most talented, versatile, well-rounded, unpredictable, predicting ninja she ever saw, going around blowing people to pieces and shredding them to near ribbons with ceramic tile pieces.

And she?

She offered nothing to help the team. She wasn't special, wasn't talented, gifted, unique. Besides her hair of course, but that was useless when it came to hiding. So not only was she not moving forward, she was also a step or two backwards.

She was like the extra player to a game who needed a position filled in order to not automatically forfeit. She was like the one person who went to potlucks without anything but still ate while hiding food in their pockets. She was like the genin kunoichi she heard about who tended to die before fulfilling two years of active service.

She did _not_ want to become another statistic.

So, despite learning a mediocre form of the chakra training tree-running exercise, she still needed to increase the size of her reserves. She had heard the idea which Naruto called the 'rubber-band' theory, in which a person increased the size of their chakra reserves by continuously using it up. By always running it down to near zero, the reserves would grow a little upon 'recharging' to accommodate the next time the depletion happened. It was in the same manner of a rubber band that's taut when it's new, but as it gets older and more used, the elasticity grew. Or in the same manner when a muscle is torn, it repairs itself on the ruins of its fore-runner to be stronger than before.

She could feel her reserves growing. It was like a dripping pipe, slow and steady.

So perhaps Naruto supervising them wasn't such a bad thing.

If he didn't make them look like they hadn't done anything in the academy, that is. And he was so cold about it. The truth was cold and ugly.

Ain't that the truth.

She sighed as she stood again, preparing to make another attempt at the tree. Before she could even dig the toes of her sandal in to start running, Naruto motioned her to stop.

"Hold on. We're done with this for the day."

She was about to whoop in celebration but he interrupted her before she even begun. "You're going to do some running."

"Running?"

"Yep. We're a bit pressed for time before things come to a head so to mix muscle building and stamina increasing, you'll be running with these." He unsealed a large cloth-wrapped item(s) from one of his many seals and gingerly un-wrapped it. After doing so, he paused for dramatic effect before revealing two makeshift dumbbells that consisted of a steel pipe with two cement castings the size of bricks. From a glance, one could tell that the cement was made with gravel to increase the weight, but all the bumps that stuck out were sanded off. "I can tell from the look on your face that you're excited to start."

The Haruno started to sputter, beginning to think that Naruto must've lost his mind if he thought that she would-

"Time's short, so go do some laps around somewhere large. When you think you can't do anymore, do five more."

More sputtering. "B-but, th-the tra- wh-what about ch-"

"You're welcome. Now get to it, before I put you through _my_ training."

Sakura had seen the boy create teams of clones that, from a general view, tried to stone him to death. They used gravel, pebbles, river stones, even bricks and the occasional glass bottle. She had no idea why he would train doing something like that, but if there were two things she knew, was that one: she wanted no part of that training regimen; and two: he was serious.

She grabbed the dumbbells from him and 'ran' away with the clumsy looking weights hampering her center of gravity while nearly making her drag her hands on the ground.

Seeing her awkward form grow smaller with distance and the rest obscured by shrubbery and foliage, Naruto nodded, before he created a dozen clones.

" **Kage bunshin no jutsu!** "

The twelve doppelgangers came into being and looked to their creator, swing signs of subordination, waiting and listening to instructions.

"You guys know what to do."

The twelve copies glanced to one another before they all stooped and scooped up a handful of stones that lay strewn around a specific area. Naruto raised his hands in preparation, to defend himself from the soon-coming onslaught. As he did, he revealed his bare palms which were riddled with bruises, welts and places where the skin had broken, even earlier that day.

He had realized that the Kyuubi would heal his injuries, but his continuing was like creating a clog-up of 'healing necessities.' He kept half healing, then reopening wounds before they were done. This could cause serious scarring, as he was cautioned by his teacher.

He grunted in finality. When had he ever decided that listening to an adult might benefit him? Besides, scars were cool.

"Throw 'em!" He yelled.

The clones granted his request.

 **=X=X=**

The construction site was filled with the loud sounds one usually associated with a market. It was also associated with couples who were having problems, one might venture to say.

Kakashi stroked his forehead, trying to chase away the prelude of a soon arriving headache. The so-called working men were yelling at each other but most frequently at Tazuna, their 'boss'. It wasn't about getting a vacation leave, sick leave, lack of pay, complaining of working in a rat-hole.

They were 'talking to their boss loudly and politely' as one put it, trying to tell him how the job didn't pay enough, how they didn't have job security, and how they didn't have life insurance.

"What the fuck is a ryo every two hours, Tazuna!"

"When the bridge is done, **then what**?!"

"Gato's gonna murder us! What'll my family do?!" One man moaned to no one in particular.

"Maybe celebrate, for starters." Another grumbled under his breath.

Somehow, amid all the shouting the man who had moaned heard the man's off-handed comment. "What'd you say?" He asked with a hint of a threat.

"They'd celebrate, is what I said!" The man retorted, not in the least intimidated. "Your woman got real skinny ever since you two got together. Must be because you eat everything in her goddamn house almost before it goes in!"

"Why I oughta-"

"Shut up! That's what you oughta do!"

The two laborers broke out into a fistfight. At that point, Kakashi by Tazuna's side finally spoke up. "Your jobs are safer than mine, you know."

"Well, you can defend yourself!" The one closest to him replied. "We go to bed, hoping we don't get our throats cut in our sleep."

"Many times I've prayed that I die when asleep. If I only get a cut throat, then I'd consider myself lucky. That's better than being stabbed in the heart with a lightening attack, getting your eye removed while you're still awake, getting crushed by falling boulders…" Kakashi's visible eye closed and he took a deep breath before continuing. "Getting stabbed sixty times in the chest and gut before impalement through the eye to get nailed to a tree, getting blown to bits with a bomb in your mouth, getting your guts ripped open almost horizontally, getting burned alive with paint thinner on your flesh, getting your body parts shredded with pieces of tile…"

He opened his eye to see the crowd silent with their mouths agape in horror. He had heard them settle down, but to see their expressions made him feel happy. Not sadistic or anything. Just to know that that they now knew it could always be worse when things seemed to already be at their worst.

"But…but that's…" Tazuna began incoherently.

"What I first listed, were things that happened to my team and myself when I was younger. The second part, were things that my students did."

"Students! Those three kids that came with you…!"

"Hai."

The gathering of the workmen collectively grumbled and mused to themselves. Hearing their morale still plummeting, Kakashi spoke again.

"Hmm. Tell you what. I'll help build the bridge. When it's done, I'll make sure that anyone who didn't help in its construction not benefit from it. Not only that, I'll kill whoever does take part of any of the proceeds." He picked up a large sledgehammer easily in one hand took up bucket of cement and gravel (mixture is called 'mortar') in the other. "Tazuna, show me what to do and where."

The men hurriedly stopped the jounin and relieved the man of his tools. It wasn't too long after that the men went back to work, keeping an eye on the jounin to make sure he didn't participate in their laboring.

Normally, he would have just eye-smiled or frowned if the situation had demanded, perhaps read his erotic literature. But he was only privy to his mind and continued to watch over Tazuna, while actually monitoring the sea.

'Seems that whoever was watching us decided to leave when they realized I wasn't going to be careless with Tazuna's guarding. I couldn't sense them after I finished telling the men what the team and I have gone through. Guess the intimidation worked.'

He glanced towards the so-called 'Master' bridge-builder, who was yelling his lungs out at two men on a rickety scaffold to take it easy, as 'the damn thing was made out of a condemned house.'

'If worse comes to worse, maybe Tazuna should be armed with something. Ninja won't expect him to take him on. They could just underestimate him and he could…'

"Stand straight, fuck-damnit! I'm not going to be the one to tell Shiarta that her husband fell off a piece-of-shit scaffold held together with just wood glue and rusty nails!"

"…Wood glue! For Kami's sake Tazuna, you don't pay me enough!"

'Nah. He's not subtle enough. He would probably just wait until they can see him clearly before he charges at them or something. Kinda like Naruto used to act before his tenth birthday.' The man chucked dryly, before his mood soured completely. 'I wonder if his predictive powers or of the sort is tied to that birthday. That's when his whole outlook, personality, hell, his whole character changed.' "What's this I hear about not getting paid enough?"

The panicky man on the scaffold frantically shook his head. "Yah didn't hear nothin' but sea-gulls, man!" He picked up his tools and resumed work, doing it sure and steady.

"Keep up the efficiency."

 **=X=X=**

Haku walked briskly back into the chambers that Zabuza was housed in, anxious to find out about the man's condition. After a brief check, Haku realized that he was still out cold. It was good this way, so long as he remained unconscious he wouldn't feel any pain that lingered from his wounds. However, if he stayed too long in the death-like state, his muscles would be atrophied he wouldn't be strong enough to go for a second attempt on Tazuna's life before their pay was cut in half.

 **(Note: I can no longer keep up the pretense; it's bugging the crap outta me. For those who read my profile, this shouldn't surprise you. I quote: "DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU SAY HAKU IS A BOY, GONNA BE A GIRL IN THE FICS I READ AND WRITE!" End quote.**

 **Besides, did anyone check under the clothes? I rest my case.**

 **Besides, if the thought of a fem. Haku disturbs you, I'll have you know that there will not be a relationship between them in this fic anyway. [Despite me having at least three ideas on how to ship them in a time story like this] Should you want to see such a relationship, it's in my other story 'Breaking Limits.' This is NaruKin. So either stay and read, or un-follow and leave!)**

She went to a small cubicle in the room and promptly changed from her hunter-nin appearance and clothing to her casual pink kimono that held punctuations of plum colored swirls here and there. Soon coming back out, the kunoichi sat in a chair at the head of Zabuza's bed and heaved a great sigh.

She had gone out to the bridge to see if she could find out more about the jounin, maybe even get a lucky opportunity to kill the bridge builder, scouting from one of her ice mirrors in which she had hidden in behind one of the break-water rocks close to the shore.

All she got was disappointment, but she did find out more about the team.

She realized from the reports that the jounin must be recounting what his team did to the two chunin, Meizu and Gozu or…their friend who got ousted by his fellow Jashinists, whoever or whatever that was about. They found pieces of that one man blown to bits with some tile pieces here and there, and the…large pile of ashes that surrounded scorched skeletons.

Yuki groaned in frustration as she tried to connect the dots. 'Start from the bottom up. Body parts shredded with tile. That sounds like Master's arm and leg. Next; burned alive with paint thinner. That must be the brothers. But who would fight and then burn people alive with thinner?' She became puzzled quickly, but continued nonetheless. 'Getting guts ripped open horizontally. I suppose that could have happened on any combat mission, but before that he said 'getting blown to bits with a bomb in your mouth.' That could have happened to the man with the scythe.' "Oh Kami." She muttered to herself. "That's how they killed him. It must be the boy who used the bomb with the tiles in it. He loves to use shrapnel, especially ceramic tile judging from what I've seen. He shot Zabuza with it, used the bomb on his water clones, just like killing him with the bomb…" Her pale skin nearly whitened to the complexion of a certain traitor Sannin. "…In the mouth? Dear Kami."

Haku fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. "And then one of those genin stabbed a man sixty times before nailing him to a tree through his eye socket, straight through the skull."

She glanced to Zabuza, now noting the man's background as opposed to the genin.

"They're monsters."

Zabuza, of course, did not reply.

"Maybe I should watch them instead, especially the one who uses the bombs. He made a fool of my master. It's fair to say that he was a decisive factor in Zabuza-sama's defeat. But I need help, master. Please wake up soon."

 **=X=X=**

The last clone finally dispersed after throwing the last rock.

It sailed through the air, the sound of it was prevalent and making it's way to Naruto's ear. At the last second, The Uzumaki made an abrupt about turn, and caught the rough rock, his hand flowing backwards while maintaining his grip on it to gradually dissipate the momentum. When his hand came to a stop, he dropped the now blood-covered rock on the ground, and a few drops from his hand followed it there.

The blond frowned as he headed back to the house, leaving a trail of drops of blood on the ground that fell from both of his hands. They were 'wounded' in 'training accidents' but as far as Naruto knew, there were no accidents. There was always a plan, a big picture. One might see a horrible event here, catastrophe there. Perhaps a blessing here or a miraculous happening all by its lonesome. But they were all intertwined. One simply needed to step back and view the big picture.

Naruto was sure that even he wasn't seeing the big picture. At the most, he was only seeing a larger part of it than other people. Why, how, he knew not. But if one thing was sure, he knew what he was going to do with it.

He had made his training successful, by changing what he knew was to happen. He wasn't to train today. But by training, he didn't expect how and when and what his clones threw at him. His hands had paid and were still paying the price, but he knew that he couldn't take any chances on his reaction time.

Not his speed. If he knew where and where not to be, that didn't matter.

Not his strength. If he knew the weakest point to strike and when, all he would need is the strength of an insect.

Not his eyesight. If he knew what would happen, he would simply avoid its path.

Not his reserves. If he knew what force he was up against, he would know precisely what to do and avoid chakra wastage.

Because there was a plan. The Universe did not gamble its fate. It's all being controlled. But perhaps at present, Naruto was God. Knowledge was valuable. But by having the necessary increased reaction time, his ability to perform on the fly should increase exponentially. He would be invincible.

Pity that it depended on his body's basic needs. Truly a pity.

Perhaps one day, he would be killed for it.

He ran to the side of the house where he knew there was a standpipe. It was there that the blood that ran from his hands was washed away. It bled a little, but not much after that. Soon, he walked into the house and took a seat in between his genin teammates. Kakashi sat by Tazuna's side at the foot of the table while Tsunami and Inari sat at the head.

Tsunami quickly got up and started dishing out the day's meal in everyone's plates before sitting down and gracing it. After that, no one needed more prompting to eat.

Everyone except Inari.

The boy scrutinized the ninja present with a scowl, especially the genin. After a while, Naruto realized that no one was going to versus his behavior and spoke up in the most eloquent manner he was capable of.

"What?" He asked irritably.

Not one word came from the boy.

"Would you like some money? Say something and you'll get it."

"…"

"If you don't say something, it means you have a thing for old men."

"Do you think this is some kind of a joke?"

Naruto leaned back, almost as relaxed as a sunbathing cat. "It worked. That's what matters. Now what's bothering you? Scared you're not as handsome as I am or something? I can tattoo whiskers on your cheeks, if you want."

"No tattoos, Naruto." Tsunami warned.

"No offense ma'am, but your son's acting like a prick ever since he met us."

"A…wha?" Confusion reigned supreme in the woman's face.

"A dick."

"Naruto!" Sakura chastised.

"I still don't follow."

Sasuke groaned in exhaustion. "He says he's a penis."

"Of course he has a penis, what does that have to do with anything?" The befuddled woman wondered.

"Besides **doing** someone." Tazuna muttered under his breath, before laughing at his own joke.

Naruto slapped his face in a face-palm, muttering something about old people. Kakashi eyed the scene with an amused air. "Let me make it clear. I'm not offending you or his father when I say this. He's _behaving like a bastard._ "

"…"

Inari tried to ignore the ever recurring grief of his 'father's' demise and was able to defend himself mentally, at the risk of having to deal with twice the normal amount of emotional baggage the next bout it arrived. "Why do you train every day?!" He pointed first at Sasuke. "He can barely keep himself awake, she has to keep her arms on the table to eat because she can barely lift her arms to feed herself…"

The two genin shrugged off the observation. "So?"

The boy glared at the girl before continuing speaking to Naruto. "But you…even from where I'm sitting, I can see you staining your chopsticks with your blood! That's the third time in a row!"

Naruto sighed. But the civilian boy wasn't done talking. "You don't need to train! You're all going to die! No one can beat Gato! We couldn't even beat his lackeys, what makes you think that you could?!"

"We're just that awesome. Besides, I'm sure that all of us here could tell you bloody stories that could make you piss your pants, li'l man. Except Sakura. She's had it fairly good. No offense."

The girl nodded, but Naruto continued. "But personally, I don't care what you think." He held up his palms for everyone to see. Suffice to say, one could only stare in morbid fascination as they eyed the unhealed areas where the skin had broken, bruises, welts and a long slice in his left palm when his clone had thrown a broken bottle. There was even a little blood still oozing from an opening. It was insignificant, but still granted points for presentation. "Do you see these hands?"

"…"

"These are fighting hands. I've killed with 'em, I've saved with 'em, I create things, destroy things and most importantly…I use them for my best possible purpose and intentions, not just for every whim or fancy."

A tear streamed from the boy's eye as he remembered Kaiza's speech. He angrily swiped it away at the memory. "He lied, and you lied." Was all he would say, horrifying his own family.

"We all know what happened to your father. I sympathize, but I believe it's time you moved on."

"This isn't about my tou-san! It's about the uselessness of your training! Gato's too strong! He could wipe us all out if he wanted to!"

The Uzumaki chuckled while closing his eyes. "Then why hasn't he? He needs you all alive; a ghost town is bad for business."

"That's all we are! You've had it real easy, never having to live a single hard day in your life!"

Naruto stopped laughing. "Never make assumptions. There's always someone who's worse off than you. By my own reasoning, I'd say I'm cursed. Two curses, as a matter-of-fact.

"Cursed?" Tazuna butted in, his plate now empty of all food since he was eating while he listened.

"Oh yeah." The blond replied with a twirl of the wrist as if it wasn't a big deal. "There's this dem-"

"Narutooo…" Kakashi warned, trailing off.

"Guess I can't talk about that one." The boy shrugged. "But the other one. It's my 'favorite' curse. I have an obligation to use it to make sure things turn out alright. Like a power boost of sorts. That's how your grandfather's still alive. I used it to save everyone's life."

"Pah!" The boy nearly spat.

Naruto tapped his forehead, as if he knew a secret but refused to tell. "Oh yeah. But let me tell you what's going to happen."

Tazuna looked on interestedly. However, he could have sworn that he saw Kakashi lean forward as if he was eager to know what Naruto was going to say. 'Huh. Weird.'

"This ninja we defeated. Zabuza wasn't it? And his pal that flung senbon needles into his throat. They're alive and out there, licking their wounds. And they're gonna come back."

"Hold on…" Sakura began.

"Hear me out, Sakura. I need all of you to listen. Especially you, Inari. They come back. One's got a sword that's as tall as you and my sensei put together, lined up straight. This big-ass cleaver sword. And the person who's so accurate that they can throw weapon needles through a guy's throat without killing someone. Those two are gonna come back…"

"…"

"And kill us."

Cue yelling in hysterics.

Naruto waited five minutes for it to settle before he continued. "Sakura gets bisected right off the bat, from the skull straight down the middle like someone using an axe to chop logs. Pity. First thing she sees is the sword, and the first thing she does is scream, instead of dodging. Wouldn't have made a difference in the end anyway. But maybe, just maybe…she would have made less of a mess."

"…" The pinkette grew unnaturally pale.

"Sasuke's 'prized' eyes get punctured clean through with senbon needles. He dies mercifully without pain. He got it the best. Never saw it coming." The Uzumaki chuckled wryly.

Sasuke got up from his seat and left the kitchen to go to who knows where.

"Kakashi-sensei gets desperate, gets sloppy, gets double-teamed, and gets murdered. Horrible to watch. The manner in which he expired, is not suitable for your ears. Use your imagination."

"Well…goddamn." The man spoke uncharacteristically, and leaned back as if he resigned himself.

"When they're done cleaning Kakashi off of themselves-"

"Wait. 'Off of themselves'?" Kakashi interrupted.

"I did say it was horrible. I also said use your imagination. Now. For me. I shot off my mugshots, blow shit up and no matter what I did, I got my head chopped clean off." He made the classic 'tsk tsk' sound by clicking his tongue. "After how much I said I hated when other people touch my hair. But your family; they got it horrible, Inari. Want to know why?"

Inari wasn't sure he wanted to know, hoping this was just a sick joke, but he nodded.

"They had no one to defend them. Couldn't even defend themselves."

"…"

"Tazuna. KILLED!" Naruto yelled, frightening the civilian listeners with his abruptness. "BEHEADED!"

"Oh damn it all. Where the hell's my saki? I need to get drunk, and then sleep it off." The man muttered.

"Tsunami. LIVED!"

"I…live?"

"Oh yeah. You're a pretty woman by anyone's standards. Don't you know what happens to pretty women? I'm not trying to be flattering. Take a guess. Go on." He requested encouragingly.

"They're left alo-" The hostess began.

"NO! PROSTITUTION! USED AS A SEX SLAVE FOR GATO, THEN SLOPPY SECONDS FOR HIS THUGS!"

"Oh Kami." The woman looked like she was going to weep.

"Narutooo…" The warning came again, but Naruto ignored it and continued regardless.

"There's more. Let's not forget Inari. _Poor boy_. He had it the _worst_ when it comes to pain." Naruto remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

Inari frowned like a thunderstorm, beginning to look worried.

"He got that fate…only because of his mother's love for him." Naruto whispered. "She sacrificed her chastity so he could live. He got released. Almost like some twisted parole. But by the time he finally defied Gato… HE WAS KILLED! LIKE AN ANIMAL! HE WAS TORTURED, BEFORE HE FINALLY DIED OF A WEAK WILL! HE…GAVE…UP!" Naruto roared even louder than before. "HE GOT CHOPPED TO PIECES, IN FRONT OF HIS OWN MOTHER! BOILED THEN FED TO MONGREL DOGS IN THE STREET!"

Tsunami quickly got up and ran out of the kitchen. Moments later, the sound of vomiting was heard, and everyone looked disheveled. The Uzumaki calmed down, and spoke lowly when Tsunami returned.

"This is all because of our incompetence…because we were weak physically… because Inari was weak mentally…because he believed in the wrong thing. He believed so much in Gato's power that we all got annihilated. Why don't you start believing in the right thing, huh? Have a little faith in us… That's all I ask."

Naruto got up, and left the silent listeners behind to stew in their own thoughts.

 **=X=X=**

He pulled out his sleeping futon and prepared for bed. It was precisely 5:55 p.m., if the clock on the wall was correct. Without dawdling, he settled down on it and lay on his back. It was a bit of an unspoken rule of smarts for ninja; to lie down on their backs so they could get up quickly should they get attacked, to avoid getting hurt by rolling to the sides from the easiest position- belly up, that is.

He closed his eyes. He was practically counting the seconds that ticked away on the clock on the wall. It was perfect white noise. But that was all he heard.

Just…the…clock…

"What do you want, sensei?" He called aloud.

The man climbed in from the window nearly instantly before standing in the middle of the room next to where Naruto lay on the floor. "How did you know I was there?"

"After what I just said, it would be strange if you weren't talking to me about it. Maybe cussing me out." The boy placed behind his head and stared up into his teacher's masked face. "Even though I was merely teasing you about the first so-called curse."

"Is it a curse?"

"More or less. It's like getting poisoned food when you're hungry. So why are you here?"

"Your prediction."

"Meh. It was fake."

"Fake?" The man's visible eye half lidded in confusion. "Then…"

"Fake. Lies. They were just well-intentioned lies. Couldn't you tell?"

"Huh. The way you were getting caught up in your moment I couldn't even tell." Kakashi admitted. "But you were so graphic…"

"Nope. I only mentioned what I knew already and made up the rest. The Sasuke thing…I just said that so he wouldn't put too much trust in his eyes when he or should he ever awaken his dojutsu. As for Sakura, I don't think Zabuza would use his sword in an axe-drop. That would be a terrible move with his sword; a diagonal drop or a sweep from the side seems the most logical to me."

"That's true." Mentally, the Hatake berated himself for not realizing that fact. But he nodded for the boy to continue anyway. "Continue."

"Your death. I didn't have any ideas for that. It just felt like they would try to pair up on you and kill you or something. As for me, Zabuza **had** been threatening to chop my head off, so I figured…"

"And the family?"

"Geez. I got caught up. It hurt me also for saying that but I was preparing them for what can be the worst eventuality. I firmly believe that if you prepare for the worst possible outcome you can imagine, then you won't be shocked, or caught unawares should it come to pass. And if it doesn't happen, then it's a small victory anyway."

"…"

"We need everyone on the same side. It just seemed like Inari wants to cheer for both teams. I'm just trying to get him to pick the right one. And it's this one."

"I suppose those could be famous words."

"Great." Naruto yawned. "Now leave me the hell alone. I'm tired."

"About that…It's only six."

"Your point is? More sleep, more rest, more productivity."

 **No sooner than the hour** hand had struck six a.m. on the clock when his eyes opened with a jolt and he sat up immediately. Looking around, he noted that the others were still asleep in their respective sleeping areas. Making as little sound as possible, he got out of bed and quickly put on his clothes and went outside, closing the door behind him.

As he stared in what he believed was the east, he watched the Sun rise over the Landscape and radiated its seemingly Eternal Ethereal glow over it. Positive vibes reigned supreme in his countenance, and he decided that he would do some variant to his usual training.

 **And…that's it. This was chapter eight and I finished the chapter with exactly six thousand words. As I said on the first day, this fic would have started this year but, judging from the traffic since then, I guess I made the right choice after all.**

 **Clues were everywhere in this fic. Dropped hints to tell you how he knows future events has practically been slapping you all in the face. But I swear, if you make me tell you, you're going to slap yourself.** _ **Hard.**_

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Living Twice**

 **Hmm…Sorry. I just can't seem to find out if readers still have operable keyboards. They're all broken. I suppose after this chapter, you may find yours working again. Reviews are wanted, and needed!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

 **9.**

As he stared in what he believed was the east, he drew in a deep breath and inhaled the crisp morning air. Where, how and when…All of the knowledge was there, and he Knew that he had to do what needed to be done. Ending something like this, like that, was necessary, and no matter what angle he tried to think of, he knew…he knew that he would eventually do it.

It was around seven or so minutes past six. No time could be wasted.

Quickly checking if all he had was secure in his weapon, he dashed straight towards the north. He needed to get into the clearing in the forest over there and prepare himself before the other got there.

 **=X=X= (8:00 a.m.)**

She fidgeted with the choker around her neck with her left hand as she walked. The damned neckwear was chafing her underneath, but for sentimental reasons, she kept it on. Perhaps one day, common sense would overrule the sentimentality, but not some day soon.

The light weight of the basket in her right hand reminded her that she needed more medical plants and herbs for him to recover more quickly. Fortunately, he had woken up late last night, but as he claimed upon consciousness, was that she 'put him down, 'cause death would be painless.' If the man could have said that about the pain, it must've hurt like a son-of-a-…

'Hmm? What…or _who_ is that over there on the ground?'

She walked a bit closer, but more in a direction that would take her closer to it, instead of directly at the object/form. As she neared, she saw that it was a boy with blond hair, and dark clothing, lying horizontally to her approach. About two meters or about that distance closer, she saw that the hair was spiky the clothing was a very dark blue, nearly black, even. And he wore grey sandals.

Shinobi sandals.

"What the…"

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Wasn't that the same boy who was fighting Zabuza, and even went as far as to steal his sword and sent a clone off with it? She 'knew' him well; her ice clone that had dispatched his had described him. But just to make sure…

She saw the whisker marks/scars on his cheeks a meter closer to his form. Even now, he was just lying there.

'Is he…sleeping?!'

This was incredibly convoluted and intricate, but also incredibly austere at the same time. Perhaps she could-

'No. don't even think about, Haku. He was just trying to do his job of protecting his client. Not to mention, even while we followed the team from the river, he carried on as if he wanted to avoid something troubling. Perhaps he's a good natured person who likes to avoid fighting when possible.'

Her other side argued. 'Or he's a sensor.'

'If he was a sensor, how come he's not reacting to your presence?'

'He's completely asleep. Besides, he fought unhindered by the mist.'

'He's a killer.'

'Idealist.'

'Remember what his teacher said? That boy is not normal. He kills brutally with those…weapons of his.'

Her argument nearly made her dizzy, her heart rate racing in beats. Without even realizing it, she was at his side, and she needed to make a decision.

'Just wake him up.'

'Kill him!'

'WAKE HIM UP!'

'KILL HIM!'

She knelt down beside him, placed her basket down and reached for his shoulder. Her hand was nearly upon his right shoulder, and if she formed an ice senbon just right, he'd have a hole in his neck where his jugular had its course pass through.

'Just wake him up. He doesn't know you.'

'You can kill him. You killed your father before, your own kin. What's to stop you from killing some nameless shinobi?'

Her heart rate started out of rhythm now, and the edge of her decision was as thin as a hair line. She was tottering on it; a mere slight shift in weight would cause her decision to fall in two separate pits.

'This isn't you.'

'You're a disappointment. I ask my tool to get the job done, and she wakes him up, instead of killing him. Haku, you're useless.' Zabuza's growling voice spoke like a terrible voice of reason in her mind. In a fit of anger and rage that lasted a second, a shard of ice erupted from her index like a deadly fingernail of sorts that elongated towards the vein. He vocal was nearly a yell as she did this, eager to please her master.

The boy's eyes snapped open, and he quickly shifted his head and neck towards his left shoulder. The ice nail stuck into the ground, and in the same moment, the boy on the ground reached his hand up and grasped her arm at the biceps/triceps area and pulled down. A split second later, his knee slammed into the side of her head, strong enough to wrench her from his grasp and send her tumbling behind him.

Still on the ground.

He quickly got up, and assumed his usual stance with his arms limp and his head hung down. Promptly getting up as well, she formed an ice senbon and watched him. Studying him for a second, she was thrown for a loop by his seemingly harmless stance, but she was surprised to see moisture fall from his face. The morning was still very cool; so it was nigh an impossibility that he was sweating. As he looked up at her, his now un-shadowed eyes had a few tears running from them freely down his whiskered cheeks.

"Why?"

She didn't know how to answer his poignant question. So she chose not to.

"Why?!" He yelled now.

Still confused, she hazarded one. "Why what?"

"You were…(sniff) supposed to wake me up…"

Haku froze. ( **The author laughs, and falls out of his chair and rolls on the ground in hysterics)**

"How did…I wanted to…but…I couldn't." She responded at last, after a long moment. "My will is not mine, but I'm an extension of Zabuza-sama's."

The boy shinobi sighed. "Maybe there's still a way to prevent this…" He mumbled to her. "My name's Naruto. And you're Haku, right?"

"How did you-"

"I know a lot of things. The most important of which, is that you won't live past today. But I'm hoping you will, by simply walking away."

"Is that a threat?" Her eyebrows furrowed in an extreme frown, while maintain a level-eyed glare.

"No. It's a fact. But it's preventable, if you just walk away. Pretend we never met."

"Why don't you walk away, if you are so caring enough to be concerned with my life?" She pondered in sarcasm.

"Time must run its course. Two things happened. We either talked about the idealism of having a precious person to fight for, to protect."

"…" Her blood started rushing through her inner vessels at a dangerous pace. How much did he really know about her?

"And after that, we both walked away. In a second format," He continued in all seriousness. "We fight, and I killed you."

"Who's to say that I won't kill you, instead of me perishing?"

"There's no one to say that. But I hope that you'll still just do as I instruct." Naruto replied. "But to show you how much faith I have in you, I'll walk away from you to the edge of the clearing." He turned his back, and started doing just that.

She suddenly felt the need to laugh. Was he really a shinobi? Blind faith in total strangers?

Although he knew too much about her, for her to be strange to him. But she herself knew nothing about him, other than the fact that he was strong. Perhaps she should take him up on his offer.

'…Useless tool.'

And all of that reasoning fled from her.

Three ice senbon formed between the grips of her fingers and she threw them, aiming for his heart's location in his back a bit to the left, with nary a sound.

Naruto was still walking away, and just before the ice needles killed him, he turned to his right, now sideways to the needles and they passed him harmlessly. The sound of them embedding in a tree suddenly caused them to sprint towards each other, but just before they clashed, he seemingly hesitated and stopped, reassuming his stance.

She rushed fully towards him, forming three senbon midway and held them in between her fingers like claws. She lunged forward with it to his ostensibly unguarded torso, but he caught her hand at the wrist with his left hand, and slammed his right into the crook of her elbow. A slight change in the angle of her hand, he had her curling her own creation back to her face.

A infinitely still moment had her watch the senbon stopped just an inch before her face. As the moment passed, he pushed her away from him.

"Just walk away, Haku." Was all he stated.

"No. You don't understand! This is something I must do!" As she uttered the last, she had reached back to him again. Lest he make her own death look like her own accident, she released her grip on the senbon and settled for pure taijutsu.

She threw a punch at his throat, eager to incapacitate him. He seemed deliberately to wait, before he grabbed her hand with both of his own. In a single wrenching moment, he made a full body 'U' swing with her arm and she went with the turn, she fell flat unto her back in a small toss-up and away.

Her kimono was soiled now, but she didn't care for that as her wind was knocked out from under her. He walked over to her at the side and looked down.

"Please desist."

She kept her emotions under control with a single gasp for air, before forcing herself up from her back and raising her whole leg to kick him toes first to the temple. Again, he caught her offensive right leg at the ankle and after swinging her up and around twice. He got the flash of a memory of what he did to Mizuki as he did this, and it scared him.

Rather than swing her into something particularly hurtful, he was considering just letting her land back in the grass in decreasing speed, but then he…

Got a glimpse under her kimono.

"Gah! Damn it!" He let go abruptly, severely flustered. All he had seen was underwear, but that was more than enough for his hormones. "I should've remembered that! Damn!"

The girl fell head and shoulders first away from him, and finally landed in a heap not too far from a tree. Deciding to just abandon taijutsu, she went through several handseals and announced a technique.

" **Hyoton: Chimei-teki sutoraiki!" (Ice release: Mortal strikes)**

Ice started forming on each of her fingertips on both hands, taking only a split second to be three inch elongated spikes. She threw them off her fingers with a slack wrist, and all ten spikes were heading for the blond in all haste.

Naruto ceased his episode and readied himself with a kunai to close the distance towards them. He sidestepped some, deflected others as he inched his way towards her. She was chucking them off rapidly nonstop but somehow, in her befuddled mind, was still able to be unharmed by them as he reduced his own time to react to them. She _knew_ she was fast. But he wasn't fast. No. He was _quick_ to react. He was at first ten meters from her when he first started repelling her continuous attack. Now he was seven.

Now five.

Then three.

In desperation, she decided to use her trump card, using several handseals unique to her and using more of her chakra since she had no water for natural aid. " **Haku no Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō**!" (Haku's secret jutsu: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)

Haku suddenly saw her breath in front of her upon exhalation. Naruto saw ahead of him, and his peripherals, and previous experience told him he was in a dome of said mirrors. However, he didn't miss a beat on his advance; he sprinted at her dead-on when she created the technique and by the time it was completed (very quickly, mind you,) he was only a mere two feet from her.

At that distance, she was in the act of leaping backwards to enter the mirror, but the attempt went for nought as he used all of his running momentum, and his forward lunging force in his right hand to catch her throat in a grip, and slammed her into the ground.

Her air threatened to leave her all at once, but the strangling grip of his on her throat forbade it from occurring. All of a sudden, his index and his thumb on her throat pressed almightily on the blood vessels under the jaw hinges to the back, the act cutting off blood flow to the brain. He was crouching next to her writhing form on the ground, looking repentant while practically cutting off all living requirements between her head and body, not to mention oxygen, and she panicked.

Her vision became speckled and marred with dark spots to the corners and increased, like small puddles of water joining together to make a large one; her vision became like that of a tunnel.

"N-…No!" She gurgled in desperation for self-preservation. "I-…'ll le-…ave! St-…op! Pl-…eas-…e!"

Naruto felt like he wanted to cry as he watched the girl in her hysterics to live. He actually let up a bit, and the girl was quick to capitalize on it with a substitution. She hadn't the presence of mind to actually use an ice clone which could skewer him with ice shards; she only used a log which took her to the trees.

The domes mirrors fell to the ground, and Naruto was quick to step out of their way and dodge them. As they collapsed like a stack of cards, he finally dived out of the scrum before the last of the overhead ones bisected him. Rolling as his upper body made contact with the ground first, he ignored the still relatively intact mirrors and stared at the girl who was panting for breath in an attempt to recover.

"Well? Will you leave?"

She did not answer straightaway, but she soon did. "You still…hurt my master. That I must…avenge."

"If I beat Zabuza, what chance would you stand? I'm not implying that you're weak." The Uzumaki hesitated. "We started off as friends…in another time. It's because of this why I have continued to show mercy, hoping that you would just leave…To live! Don't you want to live?!"

Haku stared at the boy. It sounded as if he was pleading with her. And he was right; several times, he could have dispatched her. Why was she still fighting?

"I…am his tool. I must be prepared to fight with him, and for him." She replied with an equally emotional tone. "I must be prepared to die to continue his, if needs be."

Naruto did not move for a full minute. When he did, he assumed a new stance. His legs were still the same, but his right fist was reared back fully and rested close to his side, and his open palm out in front him. Tears ran anew down his face as he did so.

"I was afraid of this. I hoped…I prayed…I begged…"

"…?" Her look was questioning, but beyond that indication, she got the feeling that the boy was washing his hands of her.

And she was afraid.

"And you would not change your mind. If so, prepare yourself, Haku."

Reason, fear, and the flight response in her screamed for her to run away as possible in the direction away from the boy. Her conscience, ideals and the 'Zabuza mentality' yelled for her to continue fighting. By the time she was ready to make her choice to fight, she fell victim to dizzying haymaker to her jaw and she fell out of the tree on her side.

"Ah!" As her eyes stared upwards, she saw that a clone of Naruto crouched on the branch next to her previous location that still had its arm stuck straight out as if to emphasize how hard a hit she just took.

She heard footsteps running towards her, and she quickly got up to face the sound. She was greeted to the sight of Naruto going on the full offensive for the first in a headlong rush. Within less than no time, she had up a shaking guard to protect her chest, a lowered chin to protect her neck and tensing her gut in readiness. In pointless readiness.

Now face to face with each other, the boy let loose. Quickly hooking his left open palm behind her right hand at the wrist and wrenched towards _his_ right. As she was pulled towards him, he raised his right knee and smashed it in her gut. Without losing a beat, (making a slight step to be at her side), he still held her outstretched arm and made passes; he grabbed her wrist with his right hand now, and gripped her arm around the 'ceps muscles with his left. Quickly sweeping away her right foot with his left, she fell to her left knee.

Thus enabling him to bring his _right_ _ **knee**_ rising up with a grunt of effort to strike her elbow, giving her a joint snap-and-break.

"Gah!" With all of her experience of the medical field, she knew that she could never continue her 'job' as ninja, let alone continue this fight. A break like that in that particular area was horrible…on paper.

In real life, it was much _worse_.

She tried to beat off his grip with her left hand, but it was a doomed attempt. She knew that. He also did, but he was not about to give her any quarter.

Promptly making a light step back in front of her, he then yanked on her broken arm back unto her feet. Ignoring her yelps of pain, he grabbed her 'still making poor attempts left hand' and held them both out straight. He then lifted his right foot at the knee, then stretched it and kicked her in the chest. With that, he pushed his foot forward away from him, while pulling her arms towards him. He continued despite her screams, until with a grunt, he yanked her arms out of their sockets at the shoulder.

He was nearly deafened at the vocals, but he felt that he needed to continue. Right until the bitter end.

He released the grip he had on her arms, and with a final push with his leg, she stumbled backwards. About six steps towards her were all he made, and he slammed both of his palms on her ears. Her eardrums nearly ripped apart and all she heard was a ringing drone, not even her own screaming as he held unto the back of her head and brought it down hard, while bringing his knee up to cause a collision halfway. The problem was, one had to have more force, but it was the knee had it.

She was knocked back, her nose bridge nearly shattered. If pain was a sound, it would be her screaming, no contest. He raised both of his fists, and readied himself for the last.

One straight-forward punch to the gut made her double-over, a reflex she instantly regretted as she got curling upwards uppercut punch in her eye that made her stand straight again. With all things considered, she was now wishing for death, and knew she would soon have it.

A thrusting kick to the left knee with his right heel nearly broke her kneecap, but gave it a 'shattered glass' feeling as it was pushed away and she stood adjacent to him. He kicked her behind in the crook of her right knee now, and she fell to both knees. Before she could just face-plant, he went behind her in a burst of speed, and held unto her hair to keep her in place.

She was a mess. She had broken bones, yes. But at the moment, all of her felt like a glassware smashed to bits. She prayed for deliverance in between as she gasped for breath to assuage the lung that wasn't punctured by broken ribs.

She felt something circular press into the back of her head, but after a moment of thought, she realized that Naruto was holding his creation at the back of her head.

The same creation that shredded Zabuza in the leg and chest. With it pressed into her head like that, it was certain to kill her.

"I'm sorry, Haku. I-"

"Igs hokay." Was all her swollen, broken jaw could permit.

She felt chakra being molded behind her, but knew not why.

"I shouldn't have gone so far. Maybe sometime during your practical torture, I thought you would substitute and run away."

"…" The girl gave a long, heaving sigh.

"Wae can bae frens in ve afferlife." She muttered with a peaceful, pained smile.

"Friends." Naruto agreed, shedding a tear.

The fuse in the bomb tag at the base of the mug ran out, the mug leapt up in Naruto's hand; the weapon fired shrapnel like a dragon's breath that blew Haku's head apart to the fore in a rage to pieces.

 **=X=X=**

Naruto sighed as he left the area in a small daze. Immediately walking to the sea in the location that wasn't too far where the others trained in water-walking, he just let his whole body fall in. The sea became colored red with the blood that washed off of him; none of it his. Dirt washed off of him too; first it became instant mud that dissolved away.

Kakashi Hatake just watched his student lie face down in the water. "Naruto, we missed you at breakfast."

Naruto spun in the water and lied belly-up so he could respond. "I'm not in the mood for your jokes, sensei."

"What kind of, or whose blood is that?" The man puzzled.

"My friend's."

The man's head swiveled around to see Sasuke and Sakura watching him with wide and concerned eyes, and then turned back to the Uzumaki.

"They're right here-"

"I met her this morning."

"You killed a girl you met this morning?!" The man sputtered. "What the he-"

"She was the mist Hunter-nin who rescued Zabuza."

"…I-"

"Just give me a day to myself." The boy said in a choked-up voice.

The Hatake was a man of many talents and skills. But he could not discern if it was sea water on the boy's face, or if her were actually crying. Taking that his sorrow-filled vibe was any clue, he walked his other two students further down the beach from the grieving blond.

 **=X=X=**

It had been a week since Zabuza last saw Haku. At first, only two thugs that normally accompanied Gato brought him food and water, but he was perturbed when he hadn't seen his subordinate.

"Where is she?" He muttered to himself for the fiftieth time since waking up that morning.

Somewhere, deep down, he knew that he should go out and look for her. But his sensible side told him to just take it easy. As he rehabilitated himself by training, he actually missed her voice telling him to 'take it easy.' And he would growl something along the lines of 'you worry too much'.

Now it was **he** who must be worrying too much. All of this was downright weird, and suspicious. The girl wouldn't leave him alone for more than sixteen hours straight, much less so many days. He felt the need to go investigate but the call to train to kill the team took priority.

Finally, he just gave up. He got beaten and made to look the fool by a punk, a genin, no less. Bereft of his skills, of his sword, and bereft of his senses.

"Oi, Momochi!" A nameless thug called. "The cook sent dinner for you."

He mumbled something that the thug decided to accept as a sign of gratitude and left he plate of food on the table. Getting up, he felt a sharp pain arc through his chest but he pushed through it. He must have overstrained himself again. Finally reaching the table, he was actually surprised to see a note underneath the bowl as he took it up off the tray.

 _I'm sorry about Haku. But I blame you for her mentality. She felt that she had to die to serve you as some pathetic tool, and I was forced to kill her. You'd better watch out, because I'm coming for your head._

 _Naruto._

The man read through the note once.

Twice…

Five times…

Ten times…

He read it a countless number of times, before he turned back to his food and dashed it to the ground in the angst of his emotions.

"He killed Haku?" He asked himself unbelieving. "Then she was just a worthless tool, after all. Did she let him kill her or something? She was too soft…"

Scarcely a second later, he was off into the night by bounds and painful leaps, deciding to just look for the area that she claimed she would be in to get medicinal herbs. Upon arrival, the full moon revealed nothing strange or out of the ordinary in the clearing.

The flowers gently swayed in the night wind as he looked around. Yelling her name once, he saw what looked like a wide patch of dirt. It was made noticeable for everywhere else was grass.

He walked over to it slowly, wary of a possible trap. When he was certain of none, he noticed her basket on the patch of dirt, and he feared that it was a grave marker.

'It can't be. It's a trick!' He yelled mentally.

'You're saying that because you're afraid to check if I'm there.' Haku's voice sounded in his head. 'I really am, you know.'

'No you're not.' He argued back.

'Pity. You must be scared of desecrating my grave, afraid that it might be profanity.'

"That's a lie!" He shouted. "I'll show you!" He was like one insane.

He pulled Kubikiribōchō off of his back and slammed it into the patch, digging through it like a shovel. After ten seconds, he stopped and dug with his hands. His hands hit something hard, and he discovered that it was a branch of a brittle tree. There were several of these large boughs, and he ripped them all away. As the sight underneath was revealed, he turned away.

But the image would stay.

She was set in the position of that of a man lying in a casket with her hands folded over the chest area, and lying straight. Her favorite pink kimono with the plum colored swirls was muddy and dirty and bloodied. Her face was nearly non-existent.

Her beautiful face, hell, her whole head was practically in separate pieces. While Zabuza could tell what weapon did that number on her, there seemed to have been some effort on the boy's part to put the 'head' back together. But her beautiful face would never be.

The deterioration of her body in the grave and the maggots that made their home in her flesh made sure of that. Not to mention the smell.

"Naruto. I'm going to kill you." Zabuza growled. He heard footsteps behind him above in the grave and he looked up to see the very same looking down on him.

"And if it were possible, my boss will kill you twice for defiling her grave."

The shadow clone of Naruto then dispersed, and the swordsman was all alone again, in the grave standing above the girl who died to serve him.

 **This chapter was easy to write, as well as difficult.**

 **It took me two days to type, but it was hard to capture Zabuza's emotions on this; he's still half crying, half aloof. Not in the way that was if she was his daughter, just as if she was close to him. Which she was.**

 **I wanted to do a new spin on Wave, and I hope that I haven't disappointed. I am nearly in tears right now for killing one of my favorite characters, but…aw, damn it! She'll live on in Breaking Limits!**

 **Final clue/hint: Throughout my writing, have I ever been known to make careless capitalizing of my words? Check the end of the last chapter, then the start of this one. Then think of a crossword called 'Wonderword'.**

 **I also want to end this arc with one more chapter, before people start chewing me out about 'where's Kin?!' and all that. I'm getting impatient too; I was to update this next week with AATC, but against all odds, I'm putting out four chapters for three stories in one week. Beat that!**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Living Twice**

 **No one's been killing brain cells to figure it out, huh? Aw, you guys are no fun. You could try, you know. Anyway, as pertaining to the previous chapter; Naruto isn't dark. He's not bloodthirsty, he's not excessively violent. I mean, someone who reviewed claimed that they got offended; me thinks it's the graphic violence. If no one else is complaining, I suppose the amount of it was just bit too steep for only one person. Let carnage continue…err, somewhat.**

 **Disclaimer:** _ **I**_ **waste** _ **D**_ **five minutes trying t** _ **O**_ **thi** _ **N**_ **k of a unique way To d** _ **O**_ **this. ho** _ **W**_ **? plai** _ **N**_ **a** _ **N**_ **d un** _ **A**_ **do** _ **R**_ **ned. i** _ **U**_ **sed capi** _ **T**_ **al letters t** _ **O**_ **do it.**

 **Yeah. Like an obvious Wonderword, you know?**

 **10.**

Kakashi slid backwards in a running man stance; without missing a beat, he was already charging the stocky man again, with his hands already going through handseals. " **Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu**!" (Fire release: Great Fireball technique)

Even his enclosed distance, the man still leapt to the side and dodged the fireball that flew through his previous place in a marvelous show of speed. The Hatake glanced over to Naruto who was squaring off with the Demon of the Hidden Mist, and secretly worried; this was despite Naruto telling him frequently not to. Pulling his attention away from his student, he refocused on the Shipping Magnate who seemed to be like some sort of soft and pudgy speed demon.

And was fighting in his business suit. Of all eccentricities that Kakashi had seen, even larger than his own, or even Gai's, this one was the most unique he had ever laid eyes on.

"Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan eye?" The man said with a rather devious, yet taunting smirk. "I expected more from you."

"And _I_ expected you to be like this." He replied plainly. Naruto had already told him how the day was going to turn out, so like him, nothing would surprise him or faze him. It didn't stop him from fretting though. What with Sakura and Sasuke holding off and even killing Gato's thugs and general no-gooders, Tazuna having the nerve to drink while watching them, and Naruto fighting a very dangerous A ranked missing nin who was one of the legendary Swordsman, with an even more notorious sword.

Yep. After this, if so much as a girl came up to him and neutered him without anesthesia for reading smut, he wouldn't even bat an eyelash.

"Is this how Naruto lives?" The man muttered. "To expect everything, and unable to genuinely react unless it's truly earth-shattering? To know if people were planning a surprise party? To know people's hearts before they themselves knew? An incredible gift? Or a curse?" He shook his head. 'For now, it helps. I still need to-'

Although he expected it and braced himself for it, he got decked in his right cheek and sent flying away a dozen meters and bounced up as he touched the ground. He wouldn't yell his pain though. He'd take it like a man.

"I can't believe I had to get my hands dirty!" The man cackled.

"And I can't believe I had to fight a mediocre user of an experimental swift release." The Hatake said dryly. He rubbed his face with the lateral side of his arm to alleviate the sting. The man wasn't necessarily all that strong, but he was using his entire body to over-propel his attacks. He had to run intercept the Scarecrow at full speed, before hitting him to exaggerate the attacks. The punch was more of a push than an extended piston. Gato wasn't really an experienced fighter. If he was, Kakashi was sure that his head would have been knocked clean off his body from the single punch.

But he was still incredibly tough to beat. Without the sharingan, at least. Naruto claimed that it was imperative that he stalled the man.

'But what next?'

Naruto on the other hand, wasn't lost in thought like his teacher, or lost in a melee fight like his teammates. He was lost in a memory.

 **What should have happened (One Week before – Meeting with Haku)**

He had decided to try some variant to his training that morning. He took to the forests for some privacy, and once there, had created a gauntlet to run through. He had once tried this training regimen a few days prior, but Tazuna wasn't pleased that a stray rock nearly brained him when he came out to investigate the noises of him yelling and grunting. Lest he harm someone else, he needed some privacy.

The gauntlet consisted of two long lines of clones who were all armed with kage-copies his blade-baton, rocks, and anything else he scavenged about the place. He had created the clones, while he slung over his shoulder a bag with said rock (actually a river-stone) a two-by-four which was a foot and a half in length, and a metal pole.

He got the feeling that he was under control. Not his, but something else's. He recognized the feeling, and knew that it was what he called the _Fore-Experience_. He decided that he would just let things progress naturally, and so it did.

Halfway running and fighting through his own gauntlet, suffice to say, he got knocked the fuck out by a flailing large block of wood to the back of his head.

…

…

…

"H…W…p…"

"H..y…W..k..up."

His eyes rolled around under his eyelids as he came to. He felt some pressure on his shoulder and it shook, as if someone was shaking him by it. As he opened the windows of his sight, he saw that what he presumed was right. His vision blurred, but soon cleared as he saw someone crouched next to him.

"Hey, wake up. You shouldn't sleep out here-"

He pushed her aside as he got up. "I wasn't sleeping. I was…well…unconscious, yes. But not sleeping."

The girl frowned. "Unconscious?" As he turned from her, she saw him grasp the back of his head in pain. "Were you attacked or something of the sort?"

"You ask too many questions." He bit out shortly. He himself had no idea why he would speak this way, but he was under the influence of the _Fore-experience_. All he did was for a reason, but only a few times he actually did have control over himself during this rather mystical event. That wasn't always preferable, and could make things unpredictable.

"I'm sorry, a'right?" He heard himself say. "Ugh, my head hurts, and it's doing wonders for my mood."

She nodded in understanding. From Naruto's perception and eye for detail, he felt that she may have seen his case already with other people. "That's quite alright. Are you sure that you're fine? You just said that you were unconscious. And I can see…" She looked around and saw his only few things that he brought to train. "A metal pole, a river stone and a piece of lumber…" Glancing aside, she saw his weapon. "And this thing."

He turned to her to see what she was talking about, and saw that she was holding his primary weapon. "Hold up, girlie. Best give that over before you cut yourself."

She gave it to him laterally. He felt that it was a bit too much of a show that a civilian would go through to hand over a weapon. Many would just give him handle first, thinking that he wouldn't kill them with the sharp end, or for their safety, hold the handle first and give it to him at the sharp end.

This person gave it to him laterally to avoid offending him, while negating any risk of hurting herself; not to mention give them a decent leeway to dodge should he become hostile.

"Huh. Arigato." He thanked her as he took it from her. "You didn't say you were a ninja."

Her eyebrows lifted. "I'm not. What would give you that idea?"

"The way you gave me back my weapon. Or the fact that you so easily noticed something as barely out of place as a smooth stone, nearly hidden by grass. You just up and believed that I had something to do with it."

She smiled, which confused him. He tensed himself, but was surprised when she giggled a bit. "Well, that's true. I am."

He frowned. "Hmm. Well, thanks for your concern, and I'll take it that your non-violent approach towards me was done in an effort to avoid a confrontation. I'll honor it. Seeing that you 'may'," He made dramatic air quotes at this. "Have had some actual concern for me, what is it that you need?"

She brought a finger up to her chin, and stroked it. "Well, I came here to pick some herbs. Since you and I both know that we're possibly counter-combatants, would you still help me collect them for my master's ill health?"

"Momochi, I presume?"

"Hai."

"Meh, I knew he was going to live, anyway. The sooner he gets back up to fighting snuff, we can duke it out and everyone can go about their daily lives." He said firmly with reckless abandon. "Sure."

They each made their way around the clearing side by side, picking out what she needed. They chatted like friends during this, rather than enemies. There were several key topics like what kind of moral and idealism they both fought for. Naruto told her his, and she hers to him. A full fifteen minutes fled during the task, but they continued talking long after that. Naruto hoped that this 'incident' could be repeated. He did enjoy her company, and hoped that they wouldn't need to fight to the death the next time they met.

"Well, arigato for your time, Naruto-san."

"And you yours. Hold on, if you can help Zabuza, can you fix my head? It still hurts like a son-of-a-"

"Oh yes. Because you have that much faith in a complete stranger." She answered in a half-serious, half-joking tone.

"You're not a complete stranger, but you are strange to me."

She playfully punched his shoulder. "As are you, friend. Hai. I know the **Shosen**. But you'll have to exercise blind faith and turn your back to me, while I lay hands on your head. Do you have that much trust in me?"

…

A few minutes later, his head no longer hurt him. "Well, this has got to be the weirdest day I've ever had the pleasure of living. Blind faith, huh? Friends?" He held out his hand to shake.

She took his hand without hesitation. "Friends."

"If we see each other on the battlefield, let's just fight to knock each other unconscious?" He asked hopefully.

She formed three senbon from ice between her fingers. "I excel at doing that."

Naruto was only mildly surprised. "Ah. The ninja who jumped in to knock out Zabuza with needles to the neck." He took out his weapon and swiped it down hard to release the catch. "I as well, should the occasion demand it."

"Goodbye, Naruto-san."

"Sayonara, Haku."

And with that, the friends/enemies turned their backs in an about turn and left in separate directions. Blind faith in one another, to not strike each other in the back.

And he admired that. He wished for it to happen again.

 **What should have happened (One Week before – Meeting with Haku) END**

A tear ran down his cheek as he barely expended the effort to dodge the man's dropping slash. 'Was it because I was a coward? Because I didn't want to knock myself out? Is it because I decided to just take a half hour's worth of sleep hoping for the same effect? Is it my fault why I bonded with her without her even knowing of it, and then killing her?'

"You son of a god-damn bitch! You killed my tool! Your fuckin' life is mine!"

"…" More tears ran freely. They clouded and blurred his vision, but he had the knowledge necessary to dodge the elder man's strikes with his eyes closed. " Did I poison time against myself?!" He yelled at the man.

The swordsman was confused, and even the others looked up to see the Uzumaki awash in tears. "Is it your fault? Or mine? I forwent one step. ONE STEP! And she's DEAD! Is it my fault?! OR IS IT HER LOYATY TO YOU?!"

The swordsman saw the youngster caught up in his moment and stopped as well. "What's your problem?! You killed her! Not me! I'm avenging her, not you!"

"Pull yourself together, Naruto." The boy muttered, as he visibly flinched from the nuke nin's accusation. "Damn-it-all; I don't know anymore. I just wanted to be her friend, you know? We met, and we became friends. But just before that actually happened, I bitched things up. Because after **all** my training by inflicting self-injury to increase my reaction time and spontaneous reflexes, it turns out that I didn't have the balls to knock myself out to meet her in the end. I just took a nap. Does that make sense?"

"Naruto!" Kakashi called out in jest. "If we survive this, I'm going to seek counseling for you. If you don't mind, wrap this up before the rest of us get seriously hurt or worse. Three…two…one…" The man said in a countdown as if preparing himself.

The man was sent flying away by another punch to the face by Gato. "I'd rather 'worse.'" The businessman said while smirking.

Naruto turned back to face the swordsman. "I suppose my teacher's right. The future isn't always set in stone, but I poisoned it against myself. I can't keep second guessing my actions. Whoa. Déjà vu. Hmm. Déjà vu for that déjà vu. And again…and again…err, alright stop. I hate that cycle." Naruto slapped his own cheek in chastisement and ignored the older man's befuddled stare. "I apologize for my emotional state. I suppose I can grieve later if I can; provided you have a snowball's chance in hell of killing me but can't, seeing that I know all that you will do."

Zabuza hesitated for a long moment. The brat knew what he would do? Like a sharingan, if that was how it worked? Seeing the future? Time-traveling, maybe? Preposterous-

"I can tell that you don't believe me. But I don't care. Come thee hither, Momochi, and be killed by a twelve year old." The blond said plainly. He lifted his blade-baton and pointed at the man in a challenge. "She's not here to bail you out if things get tough, and you don't have to worry about my teacher's intervention. This is strictly between us."

Zabuza studied the boy with care. So far, he had demonstrated himself to be more than a credible threat. Even when he had gone all soft with his emotions, he still made him look like a fool using a sledgehammer to kill an ant, when a single sandal would have been enough. He was quick to dodge, probably had brutal finishes, and seemed to have some sort of trump card that ensured him victory. Before he could hesitate or lose face and influence, he lifted Kubikiribōchō and slammed it midway on the side of the bridge. He repeated it twice more until it cracked and kept on it like a wild animal until he broke it in two. The large upper part fell off into the water below but he did not mind. Once he killed everyone, the sword would rebuild itself from the iron in blood. What he broke off could be dubbed as old blood, and the brat in front of him had the new.

Naruto wasn't fazed; he had expected the action.

"Now, half the weight and length means twice as easier to swing. Twice as easy means you'll be dead twice as fast." Zabuza remarked with a razor-toothed smirk.

"If the sword makes the man a swordsman," The Uzumaki countered. "Then you're now half of zero. You've defied logic to become worse than you were before."

A growl was all he had to warn him before he had to leap backwards to avoid a diagonal swing. "Nothing elaborate. Still relies on brute force, rather than intricate swordplay." He tapped a seal at his belt while expending a little chakra to unseal a yellow balloon. "Watch me disarm you without me even striking you."

Naruto quickly gripped the baton in his teeth while removing shuriken from his pouch. A second later, three shuriken were headed for Zabuza's face, chest and gut. Fearing that he could be subject to a trap if he avoided them, he decided that he'd block them by holding his sword upside down at a diagonal angle. Although it briefly blocked his vision of the boy, he was able to peer over a side, just to see that the balloon broke on impact on his fingers holding the sword.

It did not feel painful.

"What was that, brat?!" The man cackled as he reassumed his stance.

"Vegetable oil." He said simply, after removing the baton from his mouth and holding it tightly again. "Why don't'cha take a swing, huh?"

To hell with that shit. Did he think that this was some kind of a game? Cooking oil?!

He ignored the boy's jest as he charged at him. The boy simply stood still as he deliberately waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Zabuza swung the sword at the boy's midsection from the right, and Naruto only blinked. The man was sure that the brat was done for, but his own weapon slipped from his grasp when he had over-swung it. The zanbato swung and _curved_ around Naruto and flew off in a spinning frenzy until it cleaved through two bandits at the waist who never saw it coming as they charged at the other two genin.

Halved organs, blood and other such gut-filler splashed over the people there, and was enough to startle Tazuna enough to quit his drinking. He continued soon after in celebration. "Hip hip hooray, for friendly attacks!" The man cheered in a slur, raising his bottle as if in a toast before chugging it again. Sakura was disturbed as some splashed her all over her mid-torso, but Sasuke seemed to handle it fairly well.

"Scratch two. Thanks, Naruto." He muttered. "That means two less for me to put down."

"What the fuck, Momochi?!" Gato screamed. "Watch what you're doing!"

"…" Zabuza turned away from the sight of his sword bereft of him, and back to the boy who still hadn't moved.

"You do realize that you're going to die, don't you?" Naruto intoned with stark evenness.

"I'm not some harmless fool just because I lost my sword!" The man answered angrily with a scowl. Leaping backwards, he ran through nearly a dozen handseals. " **Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu**!" (Water release: Great Waterfall technique)

A fantastic-in-size deluge of water rose up from the side of the bridge, and forced everyone to beat feet to avoid getting pummeled. As Kakashi grabbed Tazuna and leapt back away with his charge over his shoulder. Naruto, instead of running away like smart people, sprinted to the waterfall before it crashed down unto him, and practically dived through the foot of it.

Zabuza was gloating as he was sure that his A-ranked technique had pounded the brat into a smeared paste, but the boy emerged on his side of the jutsu breathing heavily. He muttered something along the lines of 'path of least resistance' before he dashed towards the older man in a near kamikaze run.

Before Zabuza could regain the offensive by using another technique, Naruto was already swinging his baton in a drop at the man's head in a right-handed feint, before using his left hand to punch the man in the liver. The older man went to block the feint with his left hand, but caught the boy's fist in his right. He was about to simply knee the shorter boy in the chest when Naruto twisted the baton, and pulled it back to him. A 'cut-esque' pain became known in his arm he used to unintentionally sacrifice for the feint, and realized that the boy had dragged the blade portion over his arm. Deciding to just grit through the pain and kick the boy after-all, he followed through, only to hear a cracking sound below him.

And realized that it was his kneecap. The boy had just smashed into it with his baton handle when both attacks met each other half-way.

"Graah!"

"I'm right-arm dominant." Naruto commented coolly. He then slashed upwards at the man's hand still holding on his left one, and made a savage cut there under the wrist. It wasn't sharp or powerful to cut clean through the hand, but it was strong enough to cut through his tendons that controlled the fingers & thumb, as well as his radial artery. Ruby liquid ran freely as Zabuza's hand downgraded from being able to make fists and handseals to only doing a slack-palmed slap.

The Uzumaki leapt backwards before Zabuza could throw a haymaker at his throat with his better arm. He knew that Zabuza was practically finished already, and it was barely fifteen minutes since everyone met each other on the bridge. "Damn this blessed curse…" Naruto muttered.

He twirled the baton and caught it neatly at the handle again in decent showmanship as he prepared his stance. "Time to go…"

Zabuza felt a pang of fear, but quickly suppressed it. If the boy was this strong now, what would he be like in months? Years? He had a brief strike of cold shivers but stood as best he could on his uninjured and injured leg. "Do it then. All of this won't bring her back, anyway."

"…I know."

Naruto ignored all else as he held his baton to the side, angled low to the ground as he charged the man. "I'll try my best to make this as painful as possible. It'll assuage my guilt!" He yelled.

Zabuza held up his better arm in preparation while holding his worse-off one close to his chest. "Do it!"

"Raagh!" The boy roared as he made it within arm's reach and expended massive effort to jab the end of his weapon through the man's old wound in his thigh. It was actually the same leg as the handicapped knee, and virtually left Zabuza standing on only one good leg. The boy ignored the fact as he yanked out his weapon and slashed with it upwards and the blade pulled across the man's exposed midriff and his poor-condition arm.

Flinching from the assault, Zabuza tried to pull back unsuccessfully, as Naruto brought the blunt side of his weapon down on his healthy wrist. Hearing a crack there, Naruto held up on the momentum brought it to the side. He then swung it back and walloped the man on his hip. Quickly creating a shadow clone that flanked around the man, both raised the blade portion of their weapons.

And in the minute following, Zabuza's own reality was filled with nothing but pain as the two of them, in a flurry of swipes and slashes, lacerated his flesh all over. Nothing was really spared, except for any straight-through stabbings. He got his tendons cut, arteries slashed, veins parted and muscles nearly diced completely.

The clone kicked the hemorrhaging man to his knees and yanked his head back by his hair. There, Naruto faced him and bloodshot eyes stared into each other. One pair was filled with physical pain, and the other, emotional.

Zabuza knew that he was close to complete exsanguination, and wished for nothing more than to be healed again. In that moment, he recalled Haku who would usually tend to his wounds.

"The pain is difficult, isn't it?" He heard a garbled voice coming from his would be dispatcher. Realizing that he was dying, he readied himself fully for it.

"Do you have any last words?"

Zabuza's scowl deepened. "Yeah…" he coughed up blood and it spattered his bandages. "Fuck off, you puss-"

Naruto hacked his bladed side into the side of the man's neck at the collar, cutting off the man's sentence. The man's thinning volume of blood poured into his throat on the inside, and rushed likewise down his chest to mix with his earlier wounds he had suffered. The blade was deep in his flesh, and the shadow clone behind him hacked his sword unto the other side as well.

The shadow clone repeated his action, and slashed into the sinew of the man's neck. Naruto re-did as well and crimson liquid splashed all over them as vital jugular vein and carotid vessels were cut in two. The process nearly done in a few more drop-hacks, the clone dispersed and Zabuza's head bowed and sagged.

Naruto drew back his leg, steeled himself and punted the man's head off of his shoulders, since only a little sinew that had truly kept it connected to his body. The resultant energy also forced the headless corpse unto his back, and Naruto inhaled deeply. He then expelled it in a shuddering breath as blood flowed in a slight torrent from the dead man's neck like a bottle that's barely stopped up. Stepping aside, he unrolled a storage scroll as he approached the head.

Taking it up in both hands with his fingers grasping the back, he stared at it for a minute.

And realized that the practical murder really didn't help with the guilt.

He tickled the inside of his own throat with his tongue and snorted. Coughing a bit, he spat a phlegm loaded projectile-spit unto the man's face, and then sealed it.

That helped a bit more. But not much.

 **=X=X=**

"Well, you were right, Naruto."

"Of course I am."

Kakashi had his sharingan revealed and held Sasuke behind him. Naruto was at his sensei's side and both stared at the stocky business man. "For Kami's sake, Naruto, if you hadn't done that when you did, Sasuke would have gotten his neck pierced clean through with the man's cane."

"Hey, it was all you. Besides, we had to let it go that far so the guy behind us could just get his damned new strain of pink-eye."

The newly sharingan-ed boy squirmed as he tried to get between the two ahead of him. "I want to fight him as well! I must test my new eyes!"

"Calm down, Sasuke." Naruto chided. "This fat midget here is faster than Kakashi-sensei, as hard as that is to believe. He's using swift release, and he can kill you faster than the blink of an eye."

The raven haired youth blinked his sharingan eyes slowly and smirked. "I'm faster than him as well, then."

"Not the time for jokes, you two. Naruto, what's the plan?"

"Why are you asking him?" The last Uchiha queried.

"I trust his judgment." The man muttered under his breath.

"We shoot the bastard." Naruto said firmly. He saw his teacher about to argue and continued. "Yeah, yeah, four second rules apply, and he's too fast. Someone's gotta be holding him, while someone else blows a hole through his chest. It's an experimental new mugshot I got developed. It's no longer just spread and shrapnel. Lets just say that it has something of a bit more brute-force to it. One of you two with your fancy eyes are going to have shoot him to make sure you don't miss."

"But who the hell's holding him?" Sasuke asked, and both sharingan users turned to Naruto.

…

…

…

A few minutes later found Gato slipping up on some cooking oil on the smooth and slick ground and his arms being held unto by at least two shadow clones on either side. Kakashi grabbed the man's legs using a **Double Decapitation Suicide** and pulled him down to his waist into the ground.

Upon which, Sasuke got to use a mugshot for the first time. The thing had a few iron marbles in it, and no one needed an explanation how Gato had multiple pieces of tiles in his chest, and at least three holes through which if one were to look carefully, see daylight on the other side.

 **=X=X=**

"I rather like this weapon. But why the hell did you engrave 'have a nice day' on it?"

"Ugh. Only Naruto." Sakura remarked as she took it from him to look at it for herself. It wasn't reloaded yet, but she still feared it. She had seen what it was capable of, and right now, it was if it were threatening her safety just by holding it. She quickly passed it to Naruto, who replaced it in his backpack.

"Its just for laughs, alright?"

"Never pegged you for a joker." She deadpanned. "You're like some coldblooded killer, now. What with Mizuki, the bandits and chunin, the so-called Zabuza and his apprentice, and your assist on Gato."

"I'm not a coldblooded killer. And she was my friend, ok?" Naruto sniffled. "I regret killing her."

"How can she become your friend in one morning?"

"We never even met, by certain applied theories but don't ask me to explain. It's difficult, rough and I'm dredging up too many emotions." Naruto held his head down and stared at his feet. "It's my fault. I should have just done what I did the first time without a single deviation, and by doing so, I followed the second one. It was just some stupid mistake! Kami!"

Kakashi put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I can relate." He gestured for Naruto to follow him so they could speak privately. "Let me tell you a story from my youth, during the events of the Third Great Shinobi War…"

 **=X=X=**

"Well, so in essence, you could always think of it that you freed her from living her life as his tool. She told you that he was her purpose for living. There wasn't really a delicate way to handle that situation."

"I suppose so."

"Hey, it sounds like you two really hit it off. If you can be friends in the afterlife, that doesn't mean that you should go off yourself."

"Sensei!" Naruto chastised. "Don't **make** me have to shoot you!"

The man eye-smiled. "Sure you will." He ruffled the boy's hair, which said Uzumaki pretended to detest. "Anyway, come on. They're about to name the bridge."

"To hell with the bridge. I just wanna go home." The boy groaned as he approached the rest of his team. "This mission has been taxing on my nerves."

"And this one taxed my mental health."

"You too, huh?"

"Quiet, you."

"Sensei?" Naruto peered up into his teacher's face.

"Hmm?"

"Don't tell them that I know future events."

"I have to, Naruto. The report demands all transpirings. Even if I don't, how are you going to explain how I let you fight Zabuza? They'll write my judgment to be as trustworthy and credible as a six year old's."

"The Sandaime knows. I told him already." Naruto remarked, as he now eyed the festivities. Apparently, all of Wave seemed to have a turnaround in the one week since Gato's death. The country had assimilated his wealth, and the bridge already built. All that was necessary was the bridge to be named, and fully christened.

"You did?" The Hatake was genuinely surprised.

"He spies on me. I'm sure he would have figured it out sooner or later. So I told him the very day after I killed Mizuki." Naruto answered matter-of-factly.

"Anyone else?"

"My surrogate sister, Ayame-nee. You know, the one in the ramen stand? I told her the very next day after I found out myself about it. Sometimes, I help her gambling. I don't like the practice, though." He scowled at this. He could make a killing by gambling, but despised the practice.

"I should get in on that."

"Nope! Don't bother. It's just the three of you. No written records, and I want it to stay that way. Imagine. A genin with my knowledge. Relentless kidnappers, users by powerful men in high places, generals who would take advantage-"

"I know I would." The man admitted. "I can see why you would keep it secret. But why tell me, instead of lying?"

"You're my teacher. And I knew that I could trust you. You didn't look the part to just tell anyone needlessly. I excepted you from the Hokage, because that's mandatory."

"…"

"…And the fact that you figured it out. Don't make me regret it. Cause if you do, don't even think that you're going to fight me, cause I'm at least one step ahead of you. All the time."

Kakashi suddenly had his index and middle fingers pointing at the boy's face, or more accurately, an inch from his eyes. "Are you sure?"

The boy grinned. "I'm sure. Haven't you realized where **my** hand is?" He glanced down repeatedly to gesture to the man to do the same.

Kakashi looked down and saw that the boy had a kunai centered above the location between his fourth and fifth rib. "Vitals. Nice work." He pulled his hand back. "Scary as hell, though."

"Arigato. I had it there just before you decided to intimidate me."

They finished closing the distance and Sakura fumed. "Where were the two of huh? You guys are late!"

"We got lost on the road of life." (x2)

"…"

"I'm joking. Have they picked out a name yet?" Naruto questioned. He looked on at the clamoring drunkards in which Tazuna was centered in, and smiled as he saw Tsunami and Inari chastising him.

"The Super Fantastic and Great Tazuna BRIDGE!" The man yelled. Someone in the crowd dumped a jug of iced water over the man's head and slapped him in the face.

"Not a chance in hell, yah bloody drunk!"

Naruto cleared his throat loudly, and for some reason, the sound carried. "I have an idea for the name. This bridge was built with a basis in belief. It's inspired by people who wished for better, built by persons who fought for change. All of us have our role to play in it's construction, and it is a product of one thing."

"What's that?!" Inari yelled in curiosity.

"Faith." The bond answered simply, as if it were obvious. "That is my suggestion for the name. The Bridge of Faith."

"Hmm. It's the best I've heard so far." The bridge-builder mused. "And I'm tired of having to hash it out with these people who don't want my name in it. The Bridge of Faith it is!"

And a cheer was lifted then, that surely had the dead mutter that their sleep was disturbed.

 **Yep. Very crappy, sappy, and…and… aw, you guys and gals can be the judge. Tell me what you thought. This (out-of-character) Naruto is going to be a halfway between a blood thirsty killer and his goofy nature. Perfect mix. He's not dark like I said before, but will not hesitate to stoop to bloody violence. Finally, we can head back to Konoha. That's why I rushed this chapter. I know you can tell. But frankly, I don't think you care all that much. There wasn't going to be much of a fight scene in this chapter, anyway. It was a resolution.**

 **Recap of all that happened as a result of the conclusion. (Please read.)**

 **-This was never canon in details. So scratch the original Haku meeting from the anime/manga, with him training all night and junk.**

 **-Gato. For the sake of not going through a lengthy explanation, I'll just say this. He was born in some (Unspecified Village) with Swift release and 'ran' away (I laughed at this) when he was a genin. The guy used speed for everything, but couldn't really fight. Take my plausible explanation and g't outta 'ere.**

 **-Sasuke developed his Sharingan when Gato came close to killing him. Nearly a speedy death, but it was activated as Naruto and Kakashi had planned, and they saved his life at the last second. Details, detail. Can't too bother with those. Naruto's the protagonist here, not the Uchiha kid.**

 **-Sakura can take care of herself, to some extent. She's not necessarily strong, but she's becoming desensitized, and I have plans to make her able to actually put up a solo fight.**

 **-Sasuke and Naruto aren't best friends. They're just friends who can work with each other. But not necessarily a good Sasuke. I just never bashed him, you know. So he's not a complete douche, and you read how he got confident, excited and (a bit) prideful when he unlocked his Sharingan.**

 **-Kakashi and Naruto are closer. I want them to be able to look out for each other in fights, and stuff like that. Not brotherly, fatherly, just very dependable on one another.**

 **-Naruto is only overpowered because of how he knows future events. He's had no future training or anything of the sort, so get rid of that notion.**

 **-The blade-baton is not pointed. It's rather triangular, based on how one side is sharp and the other blunt. It extended all the way to the top, so Naruto can't really stab with it all that well. He can jab with it, but it won't pierce none too good.**

 **-Ayame gambles. If you may, consult chapter 5 where Naruto was walking with the cat past the ramen stand. I hinted at this. In chapter 3, its clear that I did not mention what happened in the whole meeting between the Sandaime and Naruto. The Anbu who reported to the class? Did the meeting involve him? Nope.**

 **-Shotguns. Birdshot is basically spread and scatter, with multi-pellets. Buckshot, is like a single slug. His experimental mugshot has three buck, and the rest is all bird. (Ceramic tile) Remember the iron marble that Naruto looked at when he was reloading it? He reloaded a mugshot with it during his later training days.**

 **-Inari didn't bring the whole town to help fight in time. All they came there in time for, was to clean up a bloody mess. As I stated, the fight with Zabuza wasn't even fifteen minutes properly, and the one with Gato after that was about five minutes in estimated length. In canon, that fight must've dragged out for** _ **hours**_ **. Ugh.**

 **-Naruto has bloody finishes, fights mostly with household supplies that have plausible effects, and is mostly a close range expert with no jutsu under his belt save for the Kage Bunshin technique. But hey, Kakashi is a walking encyclopedia on jutsus, huh? Plans, plans.**

 **-Lastly, Naruto's a badass. Period.**

 **That's all.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Living Twice**

 **Time to defy my own timetable and get this thing posted. I was going to put this off 'til next week, but I'm setting a record, even by my own standards.**

 **This is more of a transition chapter. Not filler, but not crucial either. It's mainly Kin centered. Enjoy what I cooked up for you, I guess…**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. In fact, I don't want to own it. Too many things happened in the show I'm displeased with. In fact, we are all rooters for either the Sakura faction, or the Hinata faction. But deep down, all of us wished it was another girl. You** _ **know**_ **I'm right.**

 **11.**

"And that's what happened." Naruto finished.

"That's a rather…strange tale. And a bloody one." Ayame mumbled. "I think we should move on to something less morbid. All those in favor, say 'aie'."

"Aie." (X2)

"Opposed?"

Silence.

"Well, both Sakura and I think the subject should be changed. Kakashi-san, change the subject."

"Oh…" The Hatake appeared mildly surprised. "I feel…a bit too much on the spot. What to talk about…hmm…"

"You people rely on me so much to talk that you find it difficult to suggest a topic?" Naruto asked in a mock-appalled voice. "I feel used."

"Get over it." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto face-palmed. "Kakashi-sensei, I've been hearing rumors of a chunin exam coming up." He offered suggestively. "I have reason to believe that you wanted to talk to us about it today?"

'That pre-knowledge thing is starting to become unsettling. But on the bright side, at least he saved me some face.' "And you'd be correct, Naruto. I plan to nominate you to join. I'm not going to lie, you'll all be severely antagonized by other participants with much more experience under their belts, and you're all still rookies."

"Sensei?" Sasuke spoke.

"Yes Sasuke?"

"Shut up."

The man stroked his own cheek. "I suppose it was a stupid thing to say after all, after going versus people like Zabuza Momochi and Gato with his swift release."

"Damn right." Sakura grumbled.

"Uh huh. We all committed murder, and what-not. The mission could've gone better, but it could have gone south faster than Gato himself." The man argued. "What if Naruto hadn't been able to-"

"No second guessing." Naruto said firmly. "You have to nominate us, train us, and then maybe, just maybe, _bet_ on us to take the exams by storm."

"Bet?!" Ayame asked excitedly.

"Bet." Kakashi said. "You sound confident, Naruto."

"I've got a right to be. I barely used any jutsu and I beat up people to bloody pulp before killing 'em. I'm so hardcore, I kick my own ass twice a day…and _**I win**_."

"…"

"Yep. I'm that awesome. Now start training us, sensei! It's your job!"

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'll come and kick **your** ass twice a day."

"Don't mind Naruto, sensei!" Sakura piped up. "You planned on nominating us, right? We have some experience, and surely we're not green rookies anymore from all that we've seen. Like seeing people get burnt to death with paint thinner, people getting chopped in two and also seeing someone get their chest blown open. All we need now is some jutsu, some battle smarts, keeping calm under pressure and we'll be fine."

"You have a very convincing argument, young lady. But it's only been two days, and you're still on break. You will all continue recuperating from your varying ailments, problems and such…" He glanced in a most subtle manner at Naruto, who actually saw and glared at the man.

"I'm over it, okay? Well, for the most part, at the very least…"

"Let's just continue with the break, Team 7. When Monday comes, I'll nominate you, and then we'll all train. And by we, I mean _you_ will all _ **train**_."

"Yeah , yeah." Naruto interjected, ruining the man's dramatic flair. "Now who's paying? I want to know before I pig out on ramen."

"You are," Sakura said firmly. "Even though we all got A rank pay, you cashed in on Zabuza's bounty. You've got a lot of money, and then some. Not to mention you took up the guy's sword. What did you do with it anyway?"

Naruto sighed. "It's safe to pig out. I was actually worrying about you guys not being able to pay for it. As for the sword, I'm just holding onto it until I figure out what to do with it. But I sure as hell ain't gonna use it…it didn't work _on_ me, so why the hell would it work _for_ me?"

 **=X=X=**

She was in her shared room, seated in a lotus position on her sheet-less futon on the floor. The fairly small room was lit by a single incandescent light-bulb that hung from the ceiling on its wire in a haphazard fashion. The dim yellow glow of the light was enough for the girl to go about her task, and it was also bright enough reveal the Spartan nature of all the room's contents; namely that of three mattresses side by side, a chest-of-drawers, and a small table that stood against the far wall.

As of now, she was all alone in the room, and she preferred it that way.

Beside her, she had her comb and brush that she had stolen over the course of time and she prepared for the task of grooming her hair. It wasn't easy; her jet-black hair was almost as long as she was tall.

She slowly pulled on the purple bow that was close to the end to keep it together, careful to have all of its length over her shoulder and over her lap. She began with the brush, and started pulling it through it as thoroughly as she could, while letting herself wander through the labyrinth of her memories.

" _Come now, my daughter! It's time!"_

" _Again?"_

" _Again." The woman said with a broad smile. "Surely, you don't want it in knots, do you?"_

" _Can't you just cut it, Kaa-chan?" The girl whined. "It gets in my way too much! And sometimes, it swings around and makes running with the others too hard!" The nine year old complained with a too-cute pout. "It's at my bum!"_

" _Oh dearie," The woman chastised with a wagging finger. "It's your pride!"_

" _My…pride?" The girl asked in a confused tone. "What's that?"_

" _It means that it should be something for you to be happy for! That you should be happy that you have! Many girls in the village wish they had hair like yours, even the grown-ups! Even I do!"_

" _You do?" The girl was completely befuddled, before she brightened. "You can have it, Kaa-chan! It'll make me happier, and it'll make you happier! That's good, right?" She asked to affirm, certain that she had just had the best idea ever in her short life._

" _No musume, it doesn't work like that!" She sat her daughter down on a low stool while she herself sat in a much more elevated chair. As she began the process of once more grooming her daughter's luxurious hair, she began to laugh. "You are truly blessed!"_

 _The girl gave a 'hmph' while she began playing with her fingers. "I don't feel like it."_

" _The hair is blessed, and since it's your hair, you're also blessed! It's like I can feel life itself in the hair as I brush it. And it keeps growing!"_

" _It is?!" The girl nearly wailed. "What if I have to drag it around on the ground with me?! I can't live with it like this!"_

" _You're alright, you big baby."_

" _I'm NOT a baby!"_

" _Such behavior says that you are." The woman said snidely. "I suppose we should be prepared for that eventuality. If it get's longer than that…hmm…you can wrap it around your shoulders!"_

" _KAA-CHAN!"_

" _I'm joking dearie, I'm joking! By dear Kami, I'll just snip a little so it doesn't have to be dragged on the ground."_

" _AAH!" The nine year old wailed._

" _I'll make sure that it never has to grow to that length, my daughter." The mother said in all seriousness now, all jesting evaporated from her voice as she ceased her brushing of the hair. "I'll make sure that it never becomes a burden. But Kin, you are to never cut your hair. It's too much of an identity of who you are, and to cut it would mean that you would lose yourself. Promise me that you will never cut your hair."_

 _Kin pulled all of the solemnity her young face could muster as she turned to face her mother. "I promise, Kaa-chan, to never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, cut my hair. But Kaa-chan?"_

" _Hai, musume?"_

" _What does 'burden' mean?"_

She felt her mind close the avenue to that memory, leaving the figurative door open just a crack so she could return to it later. She was, by all means, someone who dwelled too much on the past and sometimes, it was detrimental and counterproductive.

 _The thick black smoke billowed into the air from the high fires of the small village. People ran this way and that, screaming their throats into oblivion as most were being cut down by murderers on horseback. The killers merely swung their bloody blades while passing people, and throwing their lighted torches through open windows, or onto thatched roofs. The cheap pitch-pine wooden houses didn't stand a chance. The type of wood was waterproof and resistant to rotting, but it was extremely easy to catch fire and burn, given the natural flammable oils in it; the very same that make it waterproof._

 _As the people ran helter-skelter and to-and-fro in their woes, they nearly trampled a ten year old girl in their easily understood hasty efforts to get away from their likely deaths. As the girl tried to run home to her house that sat a bit up the hill, she was knocked down by a grown man who had charged head on through her to get away from a horse-riding marauder._

" _Agh!" She let out a cry of pain as she felt severe pain in her arm where the man's knee had caught her, moaning while tears ran from her dark eyes. She had no idea as to why a catastrophe was happening to her little world, or who could be responsible. But she tried to ignore it as she got up and tried to run again to her home. But her now pained arm and as ever, her rather lengthy hair was making it difficult for her._

' _Kaa-chan's still at home!' She thought urgently. 'I should have stayed home to help her with the chores this morning!' She cast all blame on herself as she limped through the hellish blaze of her village to where her house was. It wasn't burning, so that was a good sign._

 _The temperature had increased to dangerous heights but she paid it no mind as her young mind was filled with the images of dead or dying people, and horse-people hounding the live ones like savages, yelling as they carried on. Blood pooled around the bodies of people she had known all of her short life, as well as flames that burned those who had caught on fire from the general inferno that was the village._

 _She tasted something putrid in the back of her mouth and dry-vomited it, but nothing came. As she cried for the nightmare of this crisis to end, she continued limping and trying to weave her way around the (live) people, killers and burning debris to the hill._

 _Here, she began coughing as fresh air rushed to replace the bad one that had filled her lungs. She hadn't realized it, but she had smelling the signs of destruction for all of this time, and now, it felt like deliverance from an illness as she inhaled the sweet and cleaner counterpart. After her pause to cough and gather her bearings, as well as regain some of her stamina, she continued making her way up the hill as fast as her condition could allow, her hair streaking behind her like a tail. "Kaa-chan!"_

 _After a brief period, she made it to her house's property, and there, she saw a brown horse out front of it, helping itself to some of the cabbages that grew in the garden. Upon seeing the house, her heart fell into her stomach as she gave the horse a wide berth and ran through the open front door of her house. "Kaa-chan!"_

" _Kin!" She heard her mother screamed out from the bedroom portion of the household. In an even bigger panic, the girl ran into that side, only to bump right into a man who had had the (mis)fortune of standing in the way. "No, KIN!" The woman screamed from her cowering on the floor. "RUN AWAY!"_

" _Kaa-chan!" The ten year old bawled as the man grabbed one of the girl's flailing arms as she railed on him to get to her mother. "Lemme go!"_

 _The man smirked widely he slung the girl into the wall with his brute strength. "Hah! Feisty! Too bad you're going to die, little girl."_

" _No!" The woman yelled in desperation. "Don't hurt her! Please!"_

" _I won't." The man said simply. "All you have to do, is tell me where we can find the entrance to the jade mines. Your little girl's daddy had some jade, but he refused to talk where he got it. He won't ever talk again, sad to say." The man said condescendingly. "Didn't you find it weird that he's gone for weeks? I helped him to just…disappear from the likes of your little shitty village." The man said with a laugh, before taking out a sword from a sheathe at his side while grinning at the two females screaming. "I'm not above killing women and children. So you're going to tell me where the mine entrance is! Your husband knew, and he must have told you!"_

" _He didn't tell me!" The woman bawled while on her hands and knees, trying to crawl over to her crying daughter, but the man kept kicking her away. In the last of his patience, he yanked her up to her feet, and hauled Kin over his shoulder._

" _Well, if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to convince you. If you really don't know, you can curse your husband out for not telling you while you die."_

…

…

…

 _Kin was lashed to the saddle tightly behind the man, and the woman herself had her arms tied to the horse with a fifteen-foot long rope. The rope lead right under the horse to its neck._

 _And the horse was in motion._

 _The man laughed to himself. It was a difficult and hard death, and he needed to do only 'coax' the horse to speed up to kill the woman behind him. "Don't know the location, eh? Are you sure?" He called behind him._

 _The woman was being pulled along and had to run to keep up with the horse. "I don't know! Please let me go! PLEASE!" The woman begged as she felt her body tire in a dreadful omen. "We haven't wronged you!_

 _The man clicked his tongue in a manner that indicated that he was disappointed. "Tsk tsk. Say goodbye to your mother, little girl."_

" _NO! KAA-CHAN!" The girl wailed as she turned her head and shoulders to gaze at her running mother. "Let her go!" She started to beat at the man's back with her good arm, but the man ignored it. Instead, he merely grinned to himself as he prepared to kill someone in one of his favorite and appalling ways._

" _Hyah!" The man yelled before digging his heels into the horse's side. In an instant, as the horse's slow trotting pace speeded up to that of a full on run, the woman was yanked clear off of her feet as the moving beast went fully locomotive._

" _AGH!"_

 _As Kin watched her mother being pulled along by the horse on the ground as she screamed, she screamed herself as her mother was being dragged to death. "NO! STOP! KAA-CHAN!"_

" _AAAGGGHHH!"_

 _The girl's eyes became nearly impossibly widened as she watched the incredibly painful and imminent death of her mother as she was dragged; her dress was dirty and in tatters, yes, but that was the least as her flesh was practically being sanded off by the rough ground. In her efforts to quell her dire situation, the woman tried to roll to her sides, and even her back, but nothing aided._

 _Nothing._

 _Then her mother's head 'mercifully' struck a rock jutting out of the ground…_

She ceased her brushing in favor of using the comb. She was actually done with using the brush several minutes, or hours ago; she couldn't tell when she became lost in her memories. They were horrible. For her, no one could say to 'look back, and think of the happier times.' She doubted she really had any. After all, her own mother was killed right in front of her; during the process of being dragged to death, a simple thing as a rock had rendered her skull open like the shell of a peanut, with the contents for all to see.

 _She froze, and hadn't really moved since. In fact, she was like her recently killed mother who just had the rope on her wrists cut off…lifeless._

" _What about the kids?" One man asked another. "We got a bunch of 'em just wanderin' around like dumb homeless people."_

" _They_ _ **are**_ _homeless, you half-wit. We didn't get anything from here. No one had any info?"_

" _I had to kill all o' them who tell me they have no idea what I'm talkin' about, as if I'm a lunatic."_

" _You're a lunatic." The man that had killed her mother said shortly. "As for the kids…meh, I dunno, just kill them. It'll be easier, and more merciful. Can't have them starve to death, at the very least."_

" _Since we really didn't gain much except to get some food and supplies we didn't burn, how 'bout we just see 'em?" The 'crazy' man remarked. "Slaves fetch some hefty profit, they keep their miserable lives, and they get food, if you're concerned about that…"_

" _Slaves?" Kin's antagonist asked. He turned to the girl, and for the first time, saw his full facial features. He had a brown right eye, and a blue left eye, and he had a self made scar of a scythe on his left cheek. She thought nothing of it as she continued to stare blankly. "Hey. You want to be a slave? The alternative is getting your throat cut open. What do you think?"_

 _Silence._

 _The man sighed. "She must have gone into shock."_

 _The 'crazy' man laughed a bellowing giggle. "She didn't say 'no', so it's a 'yes.' If you don't want to sell her, just give her to me, and I'll take care of it. I could use the extra cash…"_

…

…

…

" _Ov'r 'ere folks! They're ov'r 'ere! High quality slaves, willing and able!"_

 _The man had been calling out for a mere five minutes and she, out of all of a dozen children were left. She watched silently as all of her friends that she grew up with sold like common bred animals._

 _Were they really?_

 _It was one calamity, one right after the other._

 _It was only at a point in the day in which she had no shadow when her home village was razed to the ground by these cutthroat bandits; the very same who killed all she knew growing up, including her own mother. And now, they were condemning her to a life that would not be hers to live, she and a 'lucky' few who weren't killed outright._

 _The sun was now setting, and the crowds of those who haggled with the man over their prices had thinned down to nearly nothing. Throughout the time she had been on display like a mediocre item, she had been prodded and goaded, those testing fingers to see if she were responsive. She had a lack of such, and therefore, she was 'faulty'._

" _Hmph." The man grumbled. "Just you alone, huh? No one wants you. Maybe I should'a let Otokira kill you after all…"_

 _The sun was nearly completely submerged below the land as the man continued his calling. The market was almost empty as the sellers and buyers decided that it was high time they got home; too much time had been spent in the Capital's market._

" _Ai! Sir! You wanna buy a slave?!" The man yelled at a man riding a cart pulled by a horse. Judging from the few crops in the cart, the man was a farmer who had sold all he had carried, save a few and was now going home._

 _The farmer turned to the man and frowned heavily. "Slavery? I have no interest in that! Why don't you let the girl go, eh?" He spat to one side. "I detest it…"_

 _The bandit smirked. "The girl will be sold eventually, and if not, maybe killed by a brother of mine."_

" _What?! That's heartless…"_

" _If you think so, why don't yah do something 'bout it?" The bandit grinned, before lifting the flap of his clothing to the side to show off his bloodied blade. It was obviously a threat, and was perceived as such in the farmer's mind. It was plain that the man had three choices._

 _1- Try to keep defending his ideal and get assaulted or killed, with no witnesses around to see his fate._

 _2- Keep on moving as if he saw and heard nothing._

 _3- Buy the girl, in the hopes that he didn't offend his potential murderer._

" _How much for her?"_

 _Kin didn't catch the price, but soon, money changed hands and the bandit retreated to his horse, counting his loot for the day. Soon, he rode off._

 _All in_ _ **his**_ _day's work._

 _The farmer crouched down to the girl's height to be on her level, face-to-face. "Little girl? What is your name?"_

 _Silence._

" _Won't you tell me?"_

 _Silence._

 _The farmer sighed as he retrieved a small knife in a holster from his pocket and cut off the girl's bonds. "I only did this because I don't want anyone to kill you, or to have you as their slave which is a fate I believe to be worse than death." As he finished cutting the bonds, he continued speaking to the girl, rambling a bit in his need to fill the silence of the coming night._

" _I'm releasing you. You should go back to your family. I've heard rumors of kids stolen from home. Your mother must be worried sick, wondering where you are…" He paused, seeing the first reaction out of the girl-…that of a steady flow of tears from her eyes. "Oh Kami. They…they killed …those sons-of-bit-" He stopped mid-speech, taking care to mind his speech around the girl._

" _I'm sorry." The farmer had no idea what to say to a probable nine or ten or eleven-year-old about the loss of family. Even his own mother was alive, and he was forty-two years old. "I…hmm, do you want to live with me? C'mon, we'll get some food into your stomach…" She was docile as he led her away like a father would his daughter to his cart._

 _He heaved her up and sat her down close to the front. Here, she leaned back as he sat down again, taking up the reins. "Help yourself to any of the fruits back there. You must be hungry and all…"_

 _She made no response right away, but after a mile of traveling, he chanced a look behind him to find that he had no more apples left. Funny thing was, he was sure he had had at least a dozen left when he first set out._

The girl's face wrinkled into a very slight smile…it lasted all of five seconds before it fell. That in itself was a feat; four more seconds than normal. She continued combing her hair as she became lost again.

" _So, your name is Kin?" The farmer's mother asked with a smile. "It is very unique to one such as yourself."_

" _Uh huh!" The girl answered enthusiastically. "Kin Tsuchi!"_

 _The farmer looked up from his cup of coffee. "Kaa-san, I have no idea how you get her to open up to you like that. When she first came, she wouldn't talk to me for a whole fortnight, and you've been here for three days, and you get her to tell you her whole name. Its even the first time I'm hearing it."_

" _Gomen." The girl muttered. "My father was never around, and those bad men who did what they did to my village…men…" She mumbled in a hiss._

" _You know I'd never treat you like that!" The farmer exclaimed. "I must admit, some men can be some real basta-"_

" _Egh-hem." The nearly seventy-year-old woman cleared her throat loudly to interrupt her son's line of speech. "Young ears, Shiarta."_

" _Hai, Kaa-chan," the man grumbled. "After all these years, I understand why the fellas around here think I'm a mama's boy."_

" _You're_ _ **my**_ _boy, so hai, you are. Now let the girl finish her breakfast in peace."_

" _She's done already." The man replied. "She already moved on the apples I had on the counter. If I don't tell her which apples I intend to sell, she'd probably eat all of the apple trees I have on the farm." He raised an eyebrow while gazing at the raven haired eleven year old who had the decency to at least look ashamed, if only a little bit._

" _Gomen."_

" _It's fine, Kin. Now c'mon, duties call for me in the rice fields, and chores call you. Rather loudly, if the mooing the cows are keeping up with is a big enough hint. The pail for the milk's in the corner."_

" _I'm going, I'm going!"_

…

…

…

 _She had been there for a total of three years, helping the farmer 'manage' his farm. While it was mostly mixed with fruit trees and vegetables that grew in rows and furrows in their own grounds, at least ; seventy percent of the large enough land was rice. This was the Land of Rice, after all; rice grew here in abundance. She didn't too care about the rice, but she was obligated to help the man with the paddies. He was feeding her and giving her a place to stay, after all._

 _He had always claimed to have wanted children, but she wasn't sure she wanted to take that giant step yet. As for his problem, he seemed to have wanted children, but couldn't be bothered with making the effort to court someone. Eventually, the time had passed as years and he wasn't the 'young man' he once was. He had always said he would have loved to have her as a daughter, and she always jokingly replied she would love to have his apple trees. It kept on, but she never called him a father; only his name and the usual suffix of respect. He used the 'chan' suffix, but she didn't mind._

 _Life was good on the farm, save for the near daily conversation/very slight argument about her hair. It wasn't bothersome, but it could get repetitive sometimes. As in the case of now as she worked beside him._

" _When I first saw you, it was at your upper thighs young lady." He extracted the stalk with the rice with years of skillful experience and stowed it carefully in the closely-woven basket on his back. "Now, it's at your knees. Do you know where we're standing in? Shin-deep water. And your hair, on the last measurement, reached the back of your knees."_

" _It's fine. I have it around doubled over my shoulders." She continued her extraction as well, but it was slightly sloppy as they stooped while they worked. "It's not like its getting wet."_

" _No. Instead, it's hanging into your rice basket."_

" _Ah! I didn't realize!" She started to take it out, but he stopped her._

" _Just let it be. Everyone washes their rice before packaging and eating. But you will remove any hair strands you find in your rice. Am I clear, Kin?"_

" _Hai." She grumbled. "But I'm not going to find any at all, anyway."_

" _Yeah…its got an impressive length, and if you so much as miss one strand, people are either going to think it belongs to really long horse tail, or know that it came from you."_

" _It's better than a horse's tail." Kin defended._

" _Aren't you going to cut it? It might be your vanity speaking, but to be honest, it gets in your way a lot. When you work, when you sit, even when I've seen you sleep on it. Not to mention the fact that you need either half an hour, or someone else to help you wash it." The farmer said matter-of-factly._

" _No! I can't cut it!" She exclaimed forcefully. "Never!"_

" _Why? You've never even given me a halfway decent reason why not to cut it. It's only because I don't want you to slit my throat why I haven't tried to cut it in your sleep."_

" _I wouldn't do that!" She placated. "If you don't cut it, of course."_

" _Then why?" The man pressed._

" _I…I promised my…" Kin hesitated. "I promised my mother to never cut my hair."_

 _The farmer breathed out a sigh extremely slowly and long. "I'm…sorry I asked. But you made a promise at least three years ago and you're still keeping it?"_

" _I'm keeping it,_ _ **and**_ _my hair." She said firmly. She had dredged up some memories, but it wasn't anything she couldn't cry herself to sleep over later. "Besides, she even swore that it would never become a burden. I…I'm keeping the promise!"_

"…" _The farmer nodded as if in understanding. "And what if you have to drag it around on the ground?"_

" _Hmm…I guess I'll just wear it around my waist as a belt."_

" _You'd better…pretty hair like that doesn't deserve to be dragged on the ground. Especially since I don't have any." He hinted at his growing bald spot. "You sure I can't get any of yours?"_

 _His reply came in the form of an apple core thrown at him, no doubt from her pocket. "Keep dreaming!"_

She finished her combing and set it down beside her. Her hair was all over her lap and straightened to keep it from knotting, but now, she needed it together, as much as she needed herself to be the same way. However, as she started pulling the ends together, she fell apart.

" _You bastards! Leave us alone!"_

" _Or what? You gonna beat us up!" The hoodlum taunted. He kicked at the fallen man in his gut one more time before turning his back. "Old people think they've got the balls to send us packing."_

" _When I get up, I'm gonna send yah to hell!" The downed farmer yelled between gasps for air. "Why'd you pick on us, huh? Leave us alone, you damned cowards!"_

 _Kin tried to crawl to the farmer, but she was noticed by one of the half-dozen crooks, who proceeded to shin-kick her down at the shoulder. "The girl got spunk. Wha' do we do with her?"_

" _Just take the damn food and leave us alone!" The farmer yelled as he struggled to his feet. "You think you're all so damn tough, picking on one old man and a girl there's six of you! You're all complete bastards!"_

" _Say that one more time, and I'll-" The first one started to fume._

" _Bastard!" The man yelled at the top of his lungs in defiance._

 _The man quickly stepped up the farmer and gave him a wicked backhand that sent him sprawling. "Know your place!"_

" _Stop harassing the people." The least imposing man said. "We didn't come to harm anybody. Just take some food, and lets get outta here." The man went up to Kin and pulled her up to her feet. "I'm sorry for my brothers. We're just hungry, and I hope you and your father can forgive us."_

" _Like hell I will!" The farmer shouted as he got back up. "You want my forgiveness? Get the fuck outta here and leave honest people alone, huh?"_

 _The man said nothing more as he picked up his basket of stolen food and started walking after his beckoning brothers. But even then, the farmer's voice still followed him as he cursed him out. Long after they were gone, the farmer and Kin leaned on each other as they limped to the house._

" _Damn parasites…" The man muttered. "I've had to work all my life just to get to where I am. I didn't just inherit land! I worked an honest living, bought land, and farmed like hell, sold all the food, buy more land, farm like hell…"_

" _It's alright, Shiarta-san." Kin muttered. "They didn't kill us."_

" _This time!" The man said heatedly as they made their way inside to clean themselves up. "What about if and when they come back? Them's all bastards!"_

" _Your mother didn't like hearing you curse."_

 _The farmer sighed deeply. "Bless her soul. I should respect her wishes." He groaned as he felt his stomach. "If I were twenty years younger, I'd fight them back-"_

" _And get killed." Kin finished darkly. "I…maybe I can do something. I've heard talk about a ninja training program. Maybe I could join to learn how to fight, and-"_

" _And then you'll beat 'em up, Kin-chan?" Shiarta asked, dumbfounded._

" _Yeah!" The girl said enthusiastically, as if she had just had a stellar idea._

" _Of course not! A girl becoming a ninja?! Preposterous!" The farmer brayed. He saw her frown, but he was just getting to the good part. "An ordinary girl becoming a ninja is impossible. I guess it's a good thing you're not ordinary, huh?" The man said with a smile._

" _You…" She stared stupidly at him. "You're alright with it?"_

" _Hell yeah I do!" The man said in affirmation. "Just hurry up and train and beat 'em up when you come back, eh?"_

" _Sure!" She grinned. "But you'll be alone…" She finished with a rapidly depressing expression on her face._

" _I'll live." The man said, waving her off as he stumbled his way to the sink. "I'm only forty-five, and you're fourteen. I've got plenty of time before I kick the bucket!" In his traipse, he inadvertently kicked over one of his pails that was next to the sink. And it was then, that they both begun to laugh, despite their pained offended areas. "Aw, you know what I mean."_

" _I…I'll be back soon, tou-san."_

 _The man ceased his bellyaching laugh to gawk at the girl. This had been the first time he had ever heard her address him as such and he looked as if he was about to cry but held off. "And I'll be waiting, musume."_

Oh, the naivety.

 _She and five others were lead by the creepy looking ninja through a maze of hallways. "Your training starts tomorrow. Until then, you'll share rooms. Don't get comfortable with them; you'll get rotated a lot."_

 _The man stopped in front of a hallway with what almost seemed like the livestock barrack Kin had seen on her visits to the market with Shiarta. It was none too pleasant. Neither was the interior of the rooms, which seemed to be devoid of anything Kin was used to, and she wasn't grown on much comforts._

" _Welcome to Oto, and try your best not to get killed during training."_

She finished tying the purple bow on close to the end to keep all together, and it was there, she came together as well. 'Yeah. Nothing but hellish training…in the very pits of hell itself. It's been a year, and I can't even leave. I can't write letters, I don't get letters, so all this time, nothing between me and tou-san.'

She groaned she stretched out on the mattress, her lengthy hair stretched down its full length beside her. 'Am I really blessed, Kaa-chan? I've…been through more than my fair share of trials, used and misused, understood and misunderstood, helped and un-helped, and for what? Only for me to make one mistake, and join this? I have to-'

The door was wrenched open, but she only paid it a silent stare. "Hmm? Dosu?" She only took a glance at his companion and by extension, their teammate whose hands were heavily bandaged. "Did he break his own arms at the same time or something?"

However, her eyes widened when someone else followed in behind him and she immediately jumped up to stand straight. "Kabuto-sama?"

The silver-haired teen was taller than they, and he appeared to have a rather self-satisfied smirk as he entered and then stood to one side in the room while Zaku groaned like that of a wasp's droning. "At ease, Kin. I was just…helping out your teammate there with a little combat boost."

Dosu's visible eye narrowed as he gazed at their superior. "What kind of power boost?"

A lens glare occurred in Kabuto's spectacles as he eased them up farther up his nose with an index finger. "Nothing he can't handle, I'm sure. He'll be… _experimenting_ with his new gift within a week, I'm sure."

As soon as she heard the slight stress on that particular word, Kin became horrified but didn't dare let it became evident in an emotional hint on her face. "I'm guessing there's a reason why he'll be up and about so soon?"

"Ever the observative one." Kabuto half-complimented smoothly. "The chunin exams are coming up in exactly six weeks. Although you've only been training for around eighteen months, Orichimaru-sama has decided that you able three will go forward to represent Otogakure."

"W-…we?" Kin asked in a dumbfounded tone. "We are able enough?"

"You'd better be _capable_ enough." The medic nin said in a calm reprimand. "There is no room for error, as we both know what happens to those who do. They are culled like handicapped animals, and far more painfully."

She didn't even hazard a nervous swallow. It was the very same reason why she had to have come so far in such a period of time. She believed that out of the small group that came in with her, only her and Dosu of them were still alive. And judging from the Yakushi's insinuations, they could be on thin ice, and this was a test for them…a test to see if they were worth keeping alive.

"We…are honored that Orichimaru-sama has so much confidence in us." Dosu quickly said. "We will not disappoint."

"That'd be…appreciated." Kabuto said snidely. "Prepare for later instructions in the coming weeks."

 **And…scene.**

 **Well, I didn't know how, but I completely engineered a past from scratch for Kin to flesh out her character in a very short time. She isn't like a two dimensional harem character in this fic, and I hope I pulled that off at least. I also tried to get creative as to how someone (kunoichi) could keep her hair so long and hypocritically offend others for it, and I trust that was accomplished as well.**

 **The first seven hundred words were just to show how Team 7 was getting on, and to tell all of you how they'll soon develop any and all of their coming battle might with that 'half-witty' conversation. And to basically tell you that Naruto is well off with money now, but doesn't mean he'll stop fighting with humble weapons. (Not using the zanbato.)**

 **As for the…themes that have occurred in this fic…I'm sorry if I offended any. Breaking Limits on a whole was to teach all about morals, and this one was to show the vile actions of human nature, well-intentioned they may be that have occurred and reoccurred throughout the ages. It can be graphic at times, but trust me, had I more time between updates and I'm confident I could make you hurl unto your own screen while you read.**

 **Well…maybe.**

 **Other than that, I need to do some catching up with life, as well as recover from something. You're all strangers, so no details. I'll be doing a Universal update upon my return, and perhaps there'll be a double update. Perhaps. See you in thirty days, if my deadline doesn't come and trip me up unto my face with nothing to offer. I should also have the next Ultimatum one-shot '** _ **Doom CONTROL(er)**_ **up as well.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Living Twice**

 **Hey everyone, I'm back. UNIVERSAL UPDATE is in full swing, and for those who follow me should be seeing a torrent of silmultaneous updates. However, just so I don't see that crap of a superceding chapter being posted before it's predecessor, I'm posting the next one in an hour from your notification. I can't be specific; we're all over the world, and time zones differ. I recall times of people pm'ing me at five-six in the morning, and they're telling me 'good afternoon'.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I got me enough ideas to rewrite the damn series twice more over. But the movies are fine as they are.**

 **12.**

He went through his finisher katas quickly and smoothly on the training dummy. In three precise hits, a Hatake who looked on was certain that the attack was nearly enough for the training tool to yell in agony. It didn't, but that which Naruto just did looked as if he had broken someone's back, ribs and neck in a decisive three strikes with the baton portion.

He then looked on to the others. Sakura was still running around with weights in her hands in an effort to build up her stamina and upper body strength; Sasuke was training his chakra control to be more refined as he water-walked while trying to hold a leaf to his forehead with only chakra. It was a bit difficult, to be micromanaging chakra in two so very different areas of the body, but he was getting there.

It had been three days.

So far, Naruto was able to say that he was breathing easily, while the others were running on fumes. They had been at it since dawn this morning, running through obstacle courses that Kakashi devised, gauntlets that Naruto imagined up, and basically getting the shit beaten out of them every couple of hours by Kakashi. Naruto, on the other hand, was still able to hold his own, and such.

And then Sasuke took a rock to the upper arm, and Sakura took another on her thigh. Naruto caught his, but the others were growing exasperated, and increasingly becoming covered in welts, bruises and cuts.

"Naruto! Tell your clones to quit chucking rocks at us!" Sakura yelled.

"Why don't you pick a fight with 'em, then? I'm not going to make any more, so if you disperse them, they'll be out of your life," he answered. Her eyebrow ticked in annoyance and continued her running. Earlier, she had taken him up on that, but as one could tell, she had gotten her ass kicked by them. It was better that she continued to dodge what she could, and hope she didn't get one to the head.

"I don't know why he has clones throwing rocks at me, though. I'm not the one training," Kakashi muttered. He caught an offending stone and tossed it into the water. He wouldn't throw it back at the clone. The clone would simple catch his own ammo, or dodge it so he could pelt it at them later.

"We're all training. We wouldn't want a soft teacher," Naruto spoke up. "While you're famous and strong and all, there are a lot of people who're stronger."

"He's got a point." Sasuke agreed as he rubbed his pained arm. "But the rock throwing is so crude."

"Do you all want to dodge blurring pieces of tile shrapnel?! Huh?!" Naruto shouted.

Silence answered him.

"Good. Let the rock throwing continue."

"Alright, that's a day," Kakashi called after five more minutes. "Everyone go home, rest up, recuperate or check yourself into a hospital, and come back tomorrow at noon. You can all sleep in. tomorrow, we're not going to be training physically. Tomorrow, we're training your mindset, and basically, I'll be lecturing you. If you sleep late, you'll be rested enough to not fall asleep when I'm talking."

"…Cool."

"Thank Kami. My arms… _hurt_."

"Hn. Whatever."

 **=X=X=**

Naruto walked on through the village to go home, and distinctly got the feeling of paranoia. It was a justified human 'feeling'; to know when someone was staring at you, and such an event had never been wrong. So who was he to doubt it now? He shouldn't leave anything to chance, for as of now, it was nearly six and his custom to go to bed at this time made him 'feel tired' because of habit. It was in the same way when someone ate at a certain time everyday, then they would soon begin to salivate at that time, and likely to become ravenous at that hour than in any other time.

He knew who it was. He knew. The only question was why. That, he did not know, for he _had_ ran away.

He quickly turned the corner, and waited. 'No second guesses. Time to get some facts straight.'

It was a bare ten seconds of waiting, when he heard the patter of hasty footsteps; apparently the person very badly wished to keep him in sight. And they got a real eyeful as they themselves rounded the corner and bumped into him.

"What the…Hinata?"

"N-Naruto-kun? I-I…"

He pushed and held her off with one palm while he took a step backwards. "Why were you following me?"

"…" The girl seemed to have been trapped in her own little world while he waited on her answer. She had been caught flat-footed, and he looked expectant, and impatient. She steeled herself for an answer she knew she'd regret later. "I-It's a t-t-tendency of mine."

He stared at her, completely dumbfounded. "You've made a habit of stalking me? I…wow, I don't know if I should feel…well, it's creeping me the hell out, and I feel…wow, a girl's after me. Wow." He finally wrinkled his nose after a bit of thought, staring at the crimson-faced girl before him who had her head hung a bit. "Although I pegged you for one of those who were scared of me because of what I did to Mizuki."

She nodded.

"Then why?"

"I l-…I lo-…" The girl struggled to say.

Naruto heard a beeping on his watch **(1)** ,telling him that it was ten minutes before six p.m. He decided to cut the meeting short and hurry to get home. "Well, never mind, Hinata. Look, just mark that page, and we'll talk about it later. I have to go." With nary a backwards glance, he took off in a brisk jog on his toes, before full-on sprinting. He soon vaulted over a wall and was gone, leaving the girl frustrated with herself for not telling the boy of her feelings towards him, but at the same time relieved, as she was sure she was making a fool of herself. She gathered her bearings after a brief moment, and made her way home, all the while wondering why the boy had to leave in such an urgent fashion.

 **=X=X=**

She came back with a gasp for breath, and her blood pressure was nearly audible to her teammates next to her. "Kuso!"

"She seems fine. That's her third turn under the jutsu. Not much progress, but at least you're getting used to fright. The **Magen: Makai kanran no jutsu** (Demonic illusion: Hell viewing technique) is helping, I suppose." The scarecrow stated.

"Shouldn't we learn how to break genjutsus?" She said through clenched teeth and between pants. "Besides, it keeps changing!" She got up off of the ground unto which she had fallen and stood again next to the others.

"We're getting used to fear, Sakura." Naruto said as if he were mentioning something as obvious as the sky's color. "Besides, red eyes over there can pretty much see through genjutsus and he's here, isn't he?"

"It's not activated." Sasuke affirmed.

"Right," Kakashi agreed. "So it's Naruto who seems to handle the fear the best with a perfect three, Sasuke who panicked the first two times but got through the third in a fair fashion, and Sakura who went into hysterics the first two times, but apparently ran out of breath to yell her head off in the third."

"Maybe we should subject ourselves to killing intent. Well, not me." Naruto piped up. "Zabuza had that in heaps and he directed most of that me. Like around seventy-five percent, and sensei got the rest."

"You fought fine," Sasuke mumbled. Sakura agreed with him on that point, and Kakashi clapped his hands with an air of finality to get their attention.

"Well, if you think that killing intent's harmless, time for me to teach you a lesson. I want both of you to take out a kunai. Go on."

The pinkette and the onyx-eyed youth were both skeptical about what the lesson was, but they still obeyed the man's request.

"Alright. On my count of three, throw them at me."

"At point blank range?" Sasuke asked, bewildered. You're five feet away. We could even try to miss and we'll still hit you if you don't dodge or catch it."

"I won't dodge, or catch it. Just throw it." Kakashi stated firmly. "Now…ready. One. Two. Three!"

They were promptly metaphorically buffeted under the killing intent the man radiated as they were about to throw their knives. Naruto merely watched interestedly as Sasuke gripped his kunai and was practically frozen in a throwing stance. Sakura, on the other hand, dropped unto her butt, inched away in a scurry and after a few meters of that, got up and ran away to the other side of the training ground.

And then for the two, the sun came back out from the dark hole it had retreated to, birds chirped and all was perfect in the world again.

Sasuke made a rapid intake of breath to assuage his need for oxygen; he hadn't even realized he had stopped breathing in those few moments of fear. "That…"

"Felt like he was going to kill you?" Naruto finished as if in a suggestion. "Yep. And Zabuza's was around triple that."

"Naruto…" Sasuke growled.

"Hmm?"

"How are you so… **strong**?" He bit out. This question threw Kakashi for a loop and wondered what Naruto could concoct as a lie to cover this up. But the boy didn't. He answered in a truthful approach, but he was **very** vague.

"Because I know what and what not to do."

"What does that mean?"

"Simple. I don't make mistakes," the boy bit out sarcastically. He mumbled something along the lines of 'except for Haku' under his breath, and stared down the Uchiha who was currently glaring at him.

"Fight me."

"That's not surprising to hear." Naruto muttered. 'Whether it's the first or second time.' "Sure. What goes, huh? Taijutsu? Ninjutsu? Weapons? I wouldn't want you to try to burn me with a fireball, and you wouldn't want me to blow you up or blow you away, if you know what I'm saying."

"Taijutsu." Kakashi stated. "I don't want to carry any of you to the hospital, or the morgue. Sakura! Get over here and watch. You might learn something so you can tidy your own."

…

…

…

Naruto and Sasuke stood ten meters apart from each other. The boys were bereft of all of their weapons, and all that was between them was a small distance and some grass. "I want a good clean fight. No Ninjutsu-"

"Does that include the sharingan dojutsu? If he wants to use it, it's fine. Won't make a difference."

"…Are you showing off?" The boy bit out with a deep scowl. Naruto had whispered the same to himself to make sure of and slightly breathed a sigh of relief. It was all right."

"No." He replied, following the _plan_. "So long as you don't use it as a crutch all the time, it's fine. But if you don't fight with it on and lose, you'll keep over-thinking the outcome of the match, thinking that you could have won."

"Maybe if Sasuke-kun had had his sharingan in the academy, he would have beaten the anbu in the Taijutsu test," Sakura said. "He got a nine. He probably would have gotten a perfect ten."

"Need I remind you that I was supposed to get a ten but I took a slightly lesser score? Well, it helped with team placement, and I don't want to think that I'm perfect. Good decisions should benefit all."

"Let's just fight." Sasuke closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, it revealed the sharingan; one had a single tomoe, and the other had two. "It's not even telling me that that's a stance!" He yelled at Naruto, who stood in his usual 'stance'. "You're just standing straight!"

"I know. And yet, I still beat the anbu. Funny, huh?" Naruto replied with a purely condescending monotone. "Come thee hither, my teammate."

Sasuke smirked but stayed. He settled into the stance of the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist that required defense and he waited. Naruto merely shrugged when he saw this and walked over to him.

"Fine, I'll go to thee yonder, and still beat you." 'Still going according to plan.'

He now stood at less than a meter from his sparring partner and grinned a bit, before setting his face. Without hesitation, he threw a straight punch with over extension by stepping forward at the Uchiha's face, but the lad saw the move coming easily. He was about to simply grab it, when Naruto curled his arm to have it as an elbow first while leaping off of his second foot to over extend it.

Sasuke was still prepared for it as the blond's whole body was overextending to hit him with the one elbow. He smirked to himself and blocked the offending joint with the palm of his left hand, and sent a haymaker at Naruto's jaw. The Uzumaki merely tilted his head to let the punch slide past it in a glancing move as he continued to press forward. He then lifted his still unused left arm and gave Sasuke an uppercut underneath his jaw from between the battle of hands.

It was fortunate that his teeth were clenched together from the beginning or he could have bitten off his tongue, or grounded all of his teeth into cracked enamel. As he stumbled backwards from it, Naruto continued again, only this time he darted to his opponent to rid himself of the two meter distance Sasuke just created. Sasuke was immeadiately aware of him, and was forced to block a kick to the neck. Not willing to be outdone, he grabbed Naruto's limb at the ankle and attempted to twist it, but the whiskered boy quickly brought up his left foot and thrust kicked Sasuke in the gut. He fell on his back in this daring move, but he had sufficient time to get back up when Sasuke had let go.

His wind was knocked out of him, but remained upright to redirect a right hook from his face to the side in a veer as he leaned backwards. Naruto went with the veer with his whole body, and twisted while he did it. At the same time, he was actually rotating his whole body like a top and smashed Sasuke's face with a backhanded elbow with his left hand. It was certainly enough to bruise him, and perhaps loosen just a tooth or two. Nothing a little medical Ninjutsu couldn't fix later. With that in mind, Naruto decided to wrap this up with flair.

"Free running!" He hooted as took a sudden step forward and followed through with the next. Upon taking the third step, he swung his arms from backwards to the fore of him in a back-flip attempt. It was successful, and the fourth step took root in Sasuke's chest. The fifth one was that took the Uchiha under the chin with a glancing hit with the very front of his sandal, making his head snap backwards.

"Gah!" He yelled his pain through clenched teeth as his abuse railed on him, mainly centered in his jaws. Naruto was undeterred as he followed through with the back-flip mid air, and grabbed his knees closer to his chest. Just as he was about to land again on his butt on the grassed ground, he forcefully extended his legs and kicked Sasuke's own from under him at the ankles; it brought the raven-haired youth to face-plant with his forehead unto a knee that Naruto had cracked upwards in preparation.

…

…

…

"Yeah, he got knocked about kinda hard." The nurse told Kakashi. "He has a bit of a concussion, but he'll be fine come tomorrow. He was beaten in a spar you say?"

"Yeah." Kakashi answered, not too eager to answer any more than that. 'Beaten in a one minute spar.' "Arigato. When he wakes up, tell him to come train day after tomorrow." The man then turned sharply and left the hospital. Upon his exit from the building, he saw his other two students waiting for him under a tree.

"He's fine." Naruto stated matter-of-factly, just as Kakashi was about to open his mouth to say the very same.

"Hai. He is." He affirmed to reassure Sakura. "Back to training for the both of you, I suppose."

"Really?" Naruto whined. "Alright. But you're taking me out to eat. I'm starving."

"On second thought, both of you go home." Kakashi said hurriedly. "Rest up, and return in two days. We're going to move on to Ninjutsu."

"About time, if you ask me," Sakura mumbled. "I'm tired of having to dodge rocks."

 **=X=X=**

"Why don't you stop following me, huh?" He yelled over his shoulder. "If you want to say something, say it to my face, instead of acting like a second shadow."

After a minute of waiting, she came out from behind a tree and walked up to him timidly. "G-g-gomenasai, N-naruto-kun."

He eyed her carefully. "You look frazzled. How about you take a seat?" He gestured to a bench under the tree close by, and took her by the upper arm and led her to it. "Annnnd...sit. There you go!" He exclaimed in a congratulatory tone as he gently forced her to sit. "You made it. And you're alive."

"…"

He sighed in a yawning exhale before he sat beside her. They were there for five minutes, and he called to mind that he wasn't too eager to wait out the remaining forty in which she was going to speak. It would compromise events, but he decided to go about this what she had to say clear-cut and frankly. "Kon-nichi wa, Hinata."

"Hmm? K-kon-nichi wa, Naruto-kun."

"I know that you're infatuated with me." He said bluntly. Before she could react properly to that, he went on. "The truth is, I'm…what's the word? Grateful? Honored? What I'm trying to say is, I appreciate it. That it's so strong that you still retained it even after hearing about what I did."

What he said gave her the confidence she needed to say the next bit. "It's not j-just infatuation. But I t-t-thought about it last night, and I realized t-that you did it b-because you were t-t-trying to a-avenge Iruka-sensei."

"That had a major role in it to play, that much is true," he admitted. "But honestly, I think that you need to drop it. I'm not trying to break your heart or anything, but it won't work. Your clan and father hates me, the villagers hate me, your father probably hates that your fawning over me like one of Sasuke's fan-girls-"

"It's n-not like that!" She protested.

"It is. A lot of chasing and stalking and such." He replied coldly. "Sad to say, I don't share any feelings of romanticism with you, Hinata."

"Ano…you d-don't?" Her voice was breaking, and it was likely that her emotional heart was breaking as well.

"I'm sorry. Hinata, there's an infinite number of outcomes to something like this. I'm sure that almost every one of them has a me that would leap at the chance to be with you. You're pretty, smart, gentle…in fact, you're perfect."

"T-then why won't you, if you think t-t-that about m-me?" She asked in a frail undertone, as if she was afraid to continue speaking.

"I'm not perfect. I'm…me. I bear curses, and you're as pure as someone can get. You deserve better. I'm sure that there are people willing to commit murder to be with you." He slightly slapped her on the back in an effort to bolster a good mood. "I don't want to die!" He said in jest.

She smiled a bit shyly, as he continued. "But you shouldn't be all about pursuing love Hinata. You can, but you should be training, working to advance yourself. You don't want to be stagnant in your duties and skills, do you?"

"No." She said shakily.

"Tell you what... I'll always look out for you. How does that sound…imouto?"

She went completely rigid. Here was her own ultimatum. To either decline and pursue him as a love interest until he saw reason, or use her reason to be an adopted family member of his. Not literally, but he meant he'd be there for her like a big brother would, could and should.

She pondered for all of five minutes.

"That's f-fine, Naruto-nii. One d-day, I'll become your big s-sister t-though."

Naruto chuckled to himself. "Heh heh, oh yes! But it's good to have dreams…"

She giggled as well and slugged him on his shoulder like friends typically did. "You'll k-know when it c-comes t-true."

"Oh well." He stood up and stretched. "Anyway, do you want to come along for some ramen? I'm buying."

"N-no. I-I'm buying." She protested.

"I got my cash, lady."

"I have m-more money." She argued.

"I've got A ranked pay for my last mission, and a multimillion-dollar bounty cashed in. I'm richer." He stated it as a fact.

"My f-family's richer than that."

"Damn. Oh well, you're paying." He replied in a conceded fashion.

"Ha." She cheered in her homely way before she realized what just happened. "W-wait! Y-you t-tricked me!"

"That's one for me, and zero for you. And so, Naruto Uzumaki takes the lead." He answered in a mock-announcer voice. 'Hmm. I...I like that. I deviated from what I should've done, and everything turned out for the best. I've become complacent in doing what should be done, secure in knowledge. I won't grow or develop on a whole if I don't make mistakes too. I blundered my way about breaking a girl's heart, and it still turned out for the best. What would've happened if I had just gone with the plan and she would've simply pined for me, wasting away all of who she is? I'll hazard some changes from now on, but I'll still be cautious in doing so.'

 **=X=X=**

"So that's it, huh? This **Daitoppa** doesn't sound too offensive. Give me something else, please. Something more…potent?" Naruto asked politely.

"No. It's a C ranked one, just like everyone else's. Since Sasuke has both variations of the fireball jutsu, both of which are above C ranked, I'll teach you a B ranked one after you learn it. Sakura, same rules apply. Sasuke, get to work."

The Uchiha mumbled something undeterminable before he resumed taijutsu training with Naruto's clones. In short, he was fighting Naruto's clones, but they were all lined up as if it were an endurance match. He started out fine, but he would soon tire, and he'd probably get his ass kicked thoroughly. **All** the clones wanted a turn. There were thirty of them.

Sakura on the other hand gave an unsatisfied grunt as she considered her affinity. "Suiton? Couldn't it have been something else? I wished I had another affinity…"

"Calm down. At least you can use water to drown people. All I can do is cool them off if they get hot." Naruto complained. Both of them were promptly swatted with a switch made from a supple tree limb. "Ow!" Damn it!"

"No complaining. I'm going to bet a lot of money, so I can't have you losing." Kakashi ordered.

"You and your big mouth, talking about he could bet on us." Sakura griped as she rubbed her shoulder where she felt the switch.

"At least by the end of this, maybe we can even make some combination techniques," Naruto remarked hopefully. "I've heard about Kekkai Genkai formed from boil which has to be is fire and water, scorch with wind and fire and such."

He got swatted as Kakashi begun to speak again. "It's much more complicated than that. Or course you could try to make combination techniques, but probably not as potent as a bloodline limit. You could create steam from Katon and Suiton, and more intense fire techniques with futon. More could become apparent with proper practice and experimentation."

"It's not hopeless, then." Naruto defended. He went through the three handseals to create the **Daitoppa** , and after announcing it, blew a strong wind. That was it.

"I think you need more chakra."

"More chakra? Alright. How much?"

In a brief moment of forgetfulness, his sensei told him to 'give it your all'. Before he could rectify his mistake, Naruto had finished the three handseals again, ending on dog.

" **Futon: Daitoppa**!" (Wind release: Great Breakthrough)

He was looking at Sasuke fighting his clones when he did the jutsu. Needless to say, he literally blew Sasuke away, and sent the yelling boy rolling along like a tumble-weed until he fell in the river thirty meters away from where he started. The clones more or less shared a similar fate, but when Naruto loosed all of his chakra in the jutsu, they dispersed. **(2)**

"Whoa." Sakura gawked at the sight. "I don't think you can complain, Naruto."

The boy was catching his breath so he couldn't respond right away. "Um…Me thinks he should get out before he drowns. Sakura, let's see how you do your jutsu."

Haruno shrugged before she went through four handseals ending on ox. " **Suiton: Jūsei**!" (Suiton: Gunshot)

She attempted her jutsu but that came out of her mouth was her breakfast as she hurled.

"What the hell?!" Naruto flinched and turned away. "Kuso, that's nasty! Sensei, clean it up!"

The Hatake sighed. Was he really to bet on this team? Between one genin probably drowning, one who just used up his whole reserves to make a forthright hurricane, and a kunoichi who needed a pat on the back to keep her from choking on her vomit. 'Oh boy. I hope they don't get mace'd. And I could use the winning money on something nice.'

…

…

…

It had been two weeks. As one usually observed in life, one noticed the same in this team.

It had to get a whole lot worse before things improved.

They were no longer dodging rocks. They were now dodging shuriken…while water walking…on the rapids of the river…while still practicing their jutsus.

They weren't getting mace'd. Now, they were getting _axed_.

"Alright! Time!" Kakashi announced. All of the clones stopped chucking their ninja stars, and a rather guilty looking one who looked as if he were about to throw one of Naruto's trademark bomb-balls quickly put it back in his creator's sack before he was noticed. "Get out of the water, and get on home."

All of them limped out of the water (or off the water in Naruto's case), nursing cuts and other such injuries like a sore throat for Sakura, a scorched one like Sasuke with a burnt tongue from constant misuse of the **Gokakyu** and **Gokakyuu** (Fireball and Great Fireball) and in Naruto's case, he was wondering if he was getting asthma as his windpipe felt narrowed.

"You're all doing better," Kakashi congratulated. He was about to continue when a kage bunshin of his came into existence beside him from a shunshin and whispered to him. It then dispersed and he spoke again. "I'm not seeing serious training with the others. You guys are leading in improvement I'm sure. But Gai's team is looking formidable, and they're always training. Especially the one named Rock Lee. To be frank, he was eating his lunch while doing pushups."

"So?" Sasuke mumbled with a hurt tongue.

"On one finger. And judging from what Gai was yelling, he was telling him to do it for a few hours more. The kid said he'd do double."

"What…the…fuck." Naruto deadpanned. "Are they on steroids, or something?"

"Perhaps." Kakashi answered. "That's just him. Neji is a prodigy from the Hyuuga, and Tenten looks like a weapon's mistress."

"Is it cheating to be spying on them?" Sakura asked in an unsure tone. Before her sensei could answer, Naruto beat him to it.

"No. Besides, we're ninja. It's basically our nature to cheat. It's not like the notion of honor I've read that Samurais keep up with."

"That's true." Kakashi admitted.

"Maybe we should sabotage them, then?" Sasuke asked eagerly.

"No." The Hatake stated sternly. "While I understand the need for information on what your opponent's capable of, I won't allow sabotage, especially of your fellow Konoha nin. Remember that they have to fight genin hopefuls from other nations as well."

"Fine." Naruto conceded. "Just when I had the idea of slipping something in their water supply, too. So what now?"

"The exam's in a month. I'll give both you and Sakura learning scrolls for your B ranked jutsus. Sasuke, you'll take the time to polish yours. Tomorrow, you won't be training together."

"What?!" Sakura objected. "You can't-"

"Yes I can." He answered firmly. "I'm sure you will be expected to fight each other sooner or later in the exams. You will now begin to train yourselves at a tangent to develop your own skills and tricks. Only on Sundays and Wednesdays you will all train together for team exercises. Any other time, it's on your own."

"Well…can we still ask for help from you from time to time?" The pinkette requested in a disappointed tone.

"Tips from verbal speech, hai. Other than that, each of you get lost. Ja ne!" The man shunshinned in a puff of smoke, leaving those who decided to go to the hospital do so, while the others went home to decide their next move.

 **And that is chapter 12, people. It was all about training, yes, and you all saw that everyone's 'favorite Hyuuga' get let down gently. That love interest thing is done and settled with them a bit OOC, but nothing you can't ignore.**

 **1- I decided to give him a watch. I figured 'hey, I'm seeing a laptop in the anime and manga', 'hey, I'm seeing clocks', I could give him a watch. And what time story can't have something that can tell the protagonist the time? However, to be fair, I gave him a 'classic-face' watch. It's basically like a common clock, leather straps, and the alarm function is basically the unmoving 'third hand' that when the hour-hand reaches, it alarms with beeps. However, ignore what runs it. For this fic, it'll never stop running; battery's infinite.**

 **2- I'm still not too sure about the complications of this, but for many people, in order for someone to create the shadow clones, they expend chakra into it, but get it back when they disperse. That just never sat right with me. 'Cause if that was the case, everyone could create shadow clones without worrying about the taxing it does…the chakra would go back to them. So, for me, spend your chakra and create clones. (I also believe that there's a set amount of chakra needed to make a shadow clone, like a constant requirement. Like spending money. A clone costs fifty cents, when genin have ten cents, chunin have a dollar, jounin have ten, and Naruto has…well, he's rich.) Also, I believe that in some cases, when your chakra hits zero, the clones disperse. At least for this story anyway. This should close the plot-hole in the beginning when he was creating clones trying to deplete his own reserves. The Kyuubi's chakra didn't really kick in to refill his reserves.**

 **Next chapter should be up by…darn time zones. Err, check the time when this was posted, and come back an hour or two after that.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Living Twice**

 **This is revelation.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **13.**

"What to do? Train by myself?" He wondered as he wandered. "This is a waste. All I really have on my agenda is to master the **Great Breakthrough** without hand-seals, or wasting breath announcing it for focus, and learn how to do a compact form of the **Air bullet**. I'm going to have to hold off on that…Maybe I'll cough out a lung out of my mouth the way Sakura coughed out her stomach contents for her **Water Bullet** variation. At least I have the **Daitoppa** down-pat."

He scowled at this, but soon he wondered if he could create a new weapon to fight with. So far, everything had been short range…what if he had to go against a ranged opponent?

'I never considered that before…' He trailed off. 'But the mugshots are purely close range, and I like fighting at that range because it leaves less room for variations and wildcards. If they're close to me, I can take the fight to them, instead of being on the defensive from their attacks. I won't always have that luxury.'

He sat on the roof of his apartment building with his feet hanging off, gazing at the populace milling about below. He was trying to get his answer, but he didn't necessarily feel any inclination of a rush. He had… **twelve hours extra**. Not to mention that he currently had two weeks before the start of the chunin exams.

Chunin? He beat and killed Zabuza, for Kami's sakes. He wasn't feeling over-confident, but he had to take some pride in that. Although he got the feeling that his name was rising up in the world…

"I have to be careful!" He fumed. "I must have every detail accounted for! Every hole filled, every stone turned, all t's crossed and i's dotted. I can't leave anything to chance, or one day, I'll bite the dust, all because I got too close to someone who can kill dispatch people easily and effortlessly at a short range."

It was a far-fetched presumption, but Naruto knew that he was far from strong. It had been shown time and time again…first with the Mizuki incident, then his startling with Haku's intervention, and then the killing of her…he knew he relied on his _fore-experience_. Too heavily, in fact. To know what was going to be done before it came to pass was vital and powerful information. Winning fights by only making the right choices and moves. The _fore-experience_ was the most potent and formidable force to grace this planet, and a ten year old boy got it and had it till now.

Naruto himself.

He had always said to himself that he wished he knew then what he knew now…that was a constant for everyone. Instead, he got that.

Wish granted.

To be fair, he didn't know what it really was…if it was a product of his wants of needs or inane wishes, a curse from the Shinigami or a blessing from Kami. It could really have been a Kekkei Genkai, but if it was…a parent with an ability like that should be invincible. Knowing what to do, how to do it, why to do it, and most importantly… **when** to do it.

It was all about the timing. He knew that better than everyone.

All knew the adage 'wrong place, wrong time'. He knew both. How? When everything was said and done, he was already made to do the right thing.

In fundamental nature…the _fore-experience_ as he liked to call it, was a convoluted thing…a very _**convoluted**_ and _**intricate**_ happening. It, by all means, moved his own body to act, like a ghost of his future self. It was as if it was guiding his movements on what was happening of its next instance. The _fore-experience_ , in essence, knew what would happen and controlled his body for what would occur with all the right choices. All he needed to do, was follow that intended plan the second time.

It was…a fantastic dominance! He could err no longer! He was perfect! By knowing how he _won_ , he knew how to _win_.

However, the perfect actions that guaranteed his victory would and could endanger others. As in the happening of Wave-…Sasuke's death. He diverted from the plan by creating a shadow clone…that could save Sakura instead of Kakashi, and Sasuke kept his focus and kept fighting.

What happened between him and Meizu was his first experiment. It had been the product of intentions, as well as what would happen. He had tried to experience what would happen if he created a clone _later_ , and the result was a half-broken piece of shit…one that barely saved Sakura's life, and kept his intact because the experience was always trying to preserve his own life…all else that happened could be spontaneous at times, and he had to resolute himself to never do it again since that time.

If he were less concerned for the welfare of others, this wouldn't be a problem, but…

But…

It was…a horrible dread! He knew what would happen! Nothing to look forward to, nothing to hope for! He knew whether or not what would happen. By happy things would lose luster. By sad things experienced double would make him twice as morose.

Hence why ever since.

Since?

He got the usual… _assaults_ on his birthday, but when he was experiencing what his tenth birthday had to offer, he decided to follow through with the plan presented.

He had gotten the _fore-experience_ , before his birthday, when the gift/curse was apparently meant for his birthday.

He had saved himself from a beating that would cripple him from the waist down, and the need to know what happens…he had been a slave to it, and he had trusted it ever since. Hence his…nature from the past three, soon to be four years.

Knowing what will be done, made life monotonous. The Academy? Kami-forbid. He was slowly dying, didn't anyone see? Fighting, as 'bad' as it could be, was an exciting change. It did get the blood pumping, that much was sure.

Perhaps the knowledge was changing him, grooming him to who he was now…shaping him into who he will be. He had made deviations in Wave, and it had revealed to him that below his skin, he yearned for companionship, for happiness unexpected and pleasant. Instead, all he had gotten was startling, panic, horror experienced twice each.

But most of all, he had gone through a teaser of happiness, and because of his one…his absolute one error! That one divergence! He had happiness taken away from him, before it was even his!

It was a curse! Oh yes! Of course, he should be grateful he wasn't a cripple, he should be thankful he can beat others with the best of them, but he wanted to be normal! Instead…he…everyday…knew what would happen, and experienced it twice.

This was why Ayame insisted that he should be her big brother. If he had been experiencing nearly four years twice, he was a bit older than her by age, and since he could do no wrong, he should be the one to 'guide' her like an elder sibling should.

Despite his best efforts to claim by argument that he was still younger than her, she refuted it by way of technicalities. She was right, although he got used to it…twice as fast than he would have.

The _fore-experience_ had its limits, and there was only one.

…

'It's not a concern at present, but I can't fight everyone at close range," Naruto decided. "I could make a new weapon, another one that shoots. It needs to be ranged, and accurate. Straight. So, instead of the short and stocky mug, I need a long and slender pole."

He spoke to himself with conviction, and knew…he knew that he was right. "But it can't be that simple. I need to take into account the ammo size, potency of the explosion, and the tenacity of the pole." **(1)**

He forced himself off of the roof with his hands, and as he landed in the streets below, he fell into a picture-perfect safety-tap. A roll would have let him cover his back in dog shit, but he had _known_ that already. He was inside the _fore-experience_ currently, and knew all that he would and could do was preordained. If he gained control of himself, it meant that it was inconsequential and would affect little, if anything. Like flattering someone on their good looks, or…

"Oh… a ryo." He stopped and picked up the stray coin, but knew it would not matter; his body left his own possession again and soon, found himself standing in front of the Higurashi's Store.

He bought up all of the D-ranked explosives from the man, and in a small bid for conversation-

"So, is Tenten okay?"

"Yeah." The burly man said gruffly. "How do you know her?"

"I was the one who came with Asuma couple months ago and bought this…" He took out his blade-baton and presented it to the man. Higurashi merely surveyed for half a minute before giving it back to him.

"I remember…she came to me asking about it." The man's eyes glazed bit in remembrance. "Anyway, how're the mugs you had me work over been treating you? Keep your hands safe when drinking your coffee?" The man chortled at his own joke.

"I've been using them to kill and maim people." Naruto answered bluntly, destroying the man's mirth. "Anyway, I need two four-foot-long pipes, with openings on one end, and slightly blown out alternative ends. What I have in mind is basically a metal variant to common household water PVC pipes, but-"

"That sounds like an order." Mr. Higurashi interjected. "So…"

Naruto exhaled noisily. "Of course I was going to pay. But this is simple…it should be done in three days or less."

"Payment. Now, you're speaking my most fluent language. But what's the metal you're going to want it crafted of?"

"Just dig up your strongest alloys you have laying around. I can pay for it."

…

…

…

He was done with making his order, and with three-quarters of the money already presented instead of the usual half would guarantee his poles-project the most precedence in the man's forge. He also purchased a dozen C-Grade explosive seals, and a half-dozen B-Grade storage seals.

And it was only one p.m.

He was bored in mind, and his body began leading him in a set direction. At the end of it, he soon discovered himself in front of a Wholesale Store. It was completely empty, and it just so happened to step inside just as the last of the hustle and bustle had dissipated from the previous customers. It was like a walk-in shop, but not in the manner of one doing their own shopping. It was more like the Higurashi's Weapon and Clothing store where you called for what you wanted, and it was fetched to you.

A small henge over his whisker-marks and hair hid his inimitable and most distinctive looks. As it was now, no whiskers and brown hair with bangs that nearly came to his eyes. "I'd like some service please."

"What'll it be?" A rather cheery middle-aged woman asked.

"I need three packaged-pounds of salt, three packaged-pounds of black pepper, three pounds of your most potent and spiciest bird peppers, a liter bottle of vinegar, five liter bottles of vegetable oil…"

The woman had been going around in the background, picking up his goods and returning it to her side of the counter. "Anything else?"

"One large roll of napkins."

"A lot of cooking supplies, this seems like."

"I know." 'I'm gonna cook all right.'

He quickly paid for his purchases and sealed them away in the seals he had just bought, right in front of her. It didn't faze her much; she must've already had the 'pleasure' of seeing storage seals in action in the past.

…

…

…

The senile old man didn't remember him, even with his features un-henged. "I…think I sold you some rubber balls in the past, but…I'm not too sure."

"It was me. I'm going to need your whole stock of them."

"Young man, I believe I have thirty of those blue rubber balls. If you take all thirty, what will other children buy?"

Naruto sighed deeply. "Give me twenty-five, please. Also, I need a fifty-pack of party balloons."

This man was going to take a while. He could barely get around, and Naruto wondered why the man's children or grandchildren didn't help him, if he had any.

"You throwin' some kind of party?" The aged man asked as he shuffled around for the items.

"I'll be throwing something, alright." The Uzumaki said grimly.

 **=X=X=**

"Alright. Everything checks out. Welcome to Konohagakure. There is still the premise of no antagonism or embitterment with any others if it's not required by way of the Chunin Exams." The gate guards told the trio. "Don't overstay your welcome or breach the rules given or you will all be penalized to the fullest extent of our Laws and Regulations."

The trio agreed to the conditions and had their respective passports stamped. They had their representative forms returned to them stamped with approval before they then cleared the massive village gates. Without any preamble, they all walked on in their own respective directions in their own search for the hotel. Maybe their targets if they were 'fortunate'. That differed with perspective.

 **Flashback**

"So…that's that, huh? We each have our own instructions."

"Seems so, Zaku," Dosu answered as they left through the base's exit. "But one thing bothers me. We all got to see Kabuto-sama's 'ninfo' cards."

As they broke the surface of the underground base, Kin had to cover her eyes as the sunlight glared into their faces. They all took a minute to let their eyes adjust, and in that time, all the Kunoichi saw was the countryside of The Land of Rice. She had been rotated among the bases frequently with each new training regimen, so her newly-found father Shiarta was somewhere…she had lost track. Through and through, she intended to find him.

She was entertaining thoughts of making a run for it. Maybe even faking her own death. Who would really miss her? As far as she knew or cared, she and her squad-mates were expendable. She, to some extent, knew that Dosu also had fairly decent beginnings and always exuded the vibe that he wished for escape, but like her, were too terrified to leave.

They were also afraid of continuing down their current path. It didn't help matters when they were aware that death lied at the end of each decision…there was a reason why people like Orichimaru and Kabuto were to be feared…especially Kabuto, as surprising as it was. While the Snake Sannin was admittedly the more formidable and notorious of the two, it was Kabuto who was vengeful, and hated loose ends. To be blunt, Orichimaru would be more willing to let them get away, seeing that he always had bigger fish to fry. Kabuto, on the other hand, was likely to pursue them until they were nothing but corpses for his 'collection' of bodies for his impersonation techniques. He was passionate about keeping everything neat and under control, and if so much as an ant was out of its anthill, it was getting stomped, no matter what apt or frivolous excuse may be given.

A control-freak, or to be linguistic, a perfectionist.

Maybe she could run…maybe she could find Shiarta…maybe she could live.

No, no. Too many variant 'maybe's'. Besides, the third of the series had a lesser chance of becoming true than finding someone who could kill her two so-called bosses on the same day.

And then the minute expired.

"What's your point?" Zaku asked. "You heard Kabuto-sama. We're going to get our instructions from Orichimaru through him one step at a time. When we're done with each one, he'll give us the next one."

"I don't like this," Kin voiced. "It's as if they don't want us to know the final endgame. All we know from word-of-mouth is that Konoha is going to be razed during the exams. Maybe they just want us to help it along. What's our task, huh?"

"The Uchiha. We're supposed to watch him." Zaku then got cuffed upside the head by Dosu as he glared at him with his visible eye.

"You idiot. Didn't you pay attention to the cards?"

They started to take to the trees to begin tree-jumping to Konoha. It wasn't too far from their current base location. In fact, they should arrive by three p.m., if they kept up their current pace. "We're watching the Uchiha, so I looked at _his_ card. What's your problem?"

"Two reasons. We'll encounter his _team_ in the exams…that means not just him. If we only know about him, what if one of his teammates pull some strange ability from their ass and beat us?"

Zaku snorted. "As if. With the new wind-channel pipes in my arm, I can beat anyone. One of the few things that Kabuto actually did right by me. If only he had gotten it right the first time…"

Kin was silent. She had seen all of the three cards, but Dosu had said there were two reasons. He soon stated the other. "It wouldn't look right if all three of us were caught tailing and spying on him. If it's just one of us, the person could be better at espionage, instead of us bumbling over hiding spots and shit like that."

"So?"

Dosu motioned them to stop, and he showed them that he had three slender-looking somethings sticking out of his fist he had pulled from somewhere on his person. "We're drawing straws to see who's observing who. Each of the straws got the person's hair color. The kunoichi's one of the rare pink fuchsia-haired people, the other guy's a blond, and the Uchiha's got-"

"Yeah, yeah," Zaku interrupted rudely. "I still don't like this, but you make sense." He pulled one of the straws from his teammate's hand, and the previously concealed bottom end was revealed to be pink. "Pink? Oh, fuck."

Kin shrugged and picked out another. It came back yellow, and she suddenly evoked to mind what the 'ninfo' card had said about the blond. It didn't say what jutsu he had besides an advanced cloning technique, but in the miscellaneous noting, it told her that he had singlehandedly killed Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist; an infamous swordsman to boot. The man was around elite jounin level, and his sword was as notorious as he was. Apparently, this 'genin' guy killed him at close-ranged combat, cashed in on the bounty and kept the sword.

"No switching." Dosu glared at them momentarily, before going off again with his comrades just behind him in terms of distance. Without a doubt, he knew he had gotten the best choice, as the original objective was to observe the Uchiha. He was sure that he could fight against the Uchiha if needs be, but if it was someone like this 'Naruto', or whatever the hell his name wanted to be, then that was a no-go. Zaku got a bore, and Kin had to tail a very, very _**dangerous**_ 'genin'.

He was fine.

Kin, on the other hand, looked like she was eager to switch with Zaku. But Zaku was already hell-bent on trying to swap with Dosu himself.

 **Flashback END**

Her direction wasn't completely random. Perhaps it was famished from her exertions to get here why her sense of smell was heightened to lead her to food. Perhaps it was because she had lived so long on a farm why she went to the nearest grocers. Perhaps it was because of some massive coincidence why she saw her 'assigned target' walk out of some kind of play-store on the other side of the street.

She neglected buying any sort of food after all, and began walking on her side of the street, tailing him in a most covert way. The streets were fairly crowded here, as it was mostly a practical street of stores, emporiums, shops, mercantiles and the general like.

He seemed to momentarily pause, and she halted as well. During this time, she noted how he stared at his watch. He must've had a slight obsession over time, but during this time, she wondered why people strafed around him, as if he had some kind of contagious illness and they didn't wish it on themselves.

'Huh. Weird. Wh-…why am I even following him?! This guy's dangerous!' She yelled in thought so loud she could swear that everyone around her must've heard it. For a brief moment, she wondered if she was caught in the act of following him, and busied herself by gazing at the wares of an open-air stall. Why it had to be a fruit-stall, she had no idea. Even worse, just as she eyed the apples, it made her stomach growl in yearning for it. Regrettably, she saw him move off again, this time in a turn off. She would lose sight of him around the bend, and-

'Damn it! This is an easy choice! Then why the hell would I pick the wrong one?' In her frustration, she tore herself from the suddenly very-appealing stall and walked after him, wondering if she would get to see him train.

 **=X=X=**

'Hmm…it's four p.m.' He gazed at the watch before continuing to gaze ahead of him. He felt more paranoid than he normally would, and already knew why. The Kunoichi behind him to his 'seven 'o' clock' in direction. Why he wasn't doing something serious about it rather than just wandering around, the answer didn't come to him yet. That wasn't unusual. Sometimes, the _fore-experience_ took a while with some knowledge, but he felt this to be important.

'Well, it'd better hurry up,' he mused in the privacy of his head. 'I've got to be in bed at six.'

He turned at the next sharp right, and knew that this street led to commercial. It was almost amusing to him, walking through some woeful areas while she seemingly followed him with a nervous air. He might as well enjoy the situation. He _was_ bored, and perhaps he was just whiling away the time at this point.

And sooner, rather than later, found himself in front of Ichiraku's. Apparently, he had taken the long way. And to top it off, just as he was about to walk in, he turned to her and beckoned to her with a gesture of the head, and a small wave.

He himself could practically feel the doubt rolling off of the Kunoichi, when he himself still hadn't even seen her properly yet…only a few glimpses from his peripherals.

"Hey, Ayame-nee!" He hailed from his place on his stool. She wasn't in sight, hence why the necessity for his shout.

He turned his attention to the approaching Ayame with tears on her face. "Um…you okay?" Instantly, he now felt like he had regained control. Perhaps now was the time to do some micromanaging, seeing that this wasn't too significant.

"No. Naruto-nii. Hey, um…my favorite horse just broke a leg in the four 'o' clock race. And I'm out a thousand ryo. I was saving that up for two months!"

He grunted before he leaned over to her, and her over to him to whisper. "I'll tell you tomorrow in the morning. Currently, this is practice, if you know what I mean."

"Kami, this feels messed up." Ayame complained. "I feel real. That loss feels real…"

"Now you know how I felt about Haku." Naruto griped. "Anyway, which horse won?"

"'Shinigami's Judgment', number 136. Kami, I hate that stallion. But…when you're telling me the right info, can you lend me four thousand ryo?"

"Now you're being hypocritical. The answer's no; I hate seeing you gamble. You're just fortunate I hate seeing you lose. Damn, if I tell you what to bet on, it could mess up my whole day. There's this girl following me, and she's a ninja. I need to know what to do in case there's conflict. You know the drill. Act normal. In the morrows, I'll just send a clone out to tell you not to gamble. That sounds fair and clean to me." He now leaned back unto his stool.

"Glad I have such an understanding big brother." She wiped her face and resumed her cheery illustration. "What'll it be?" As she said this, he felt his own body leave his control and he settled fully unto his seat. It must be in some sort of preparation.

Kin finally stepped inside after a number of hesitations. It was mostly her stomach that had made up her mind, as the smells that had emanated from the homely stand had gotten her stomach working…working to digest its own lining. As she sat down, she only slightly felt the waitress's gaze as she waited.

"Hai?" Kin asked, feeling irritated.

"Don't you want to order?" The boy next to her asked. "Anyway, I would like the chicken ramen, for a change. And I suppose that Ms. Stalker I led to get a meal here would like what she wants as well."

"Don't patronize me. I'd like…hmm…" She glanced at the price-sheet on the wall next to her and noted that the ramen was cheap. Cheap food was never good news, in terms of health and quality. Hoping that it wouldn't backfire on her, she ordered the chicken one as well.

As soon as Ayame left, both teens were left in the fair quietness of the stand, and they sat with only one stool between them.

And Naruto felt himself speak. He had no control, as usual in the _fore-experience_ , as it ' forcefully dictated' the plan to him.

"So…do you have a name?" 'Kuso! Why did I say that? Is it trying to make me sound aloof and 'cool' or something?!'

"Sure I do. You don't have to know it," she retorted haughtily.

"I would like to know the name of my stalker. You-" More knowledge came. "…You're a foreign ninja, no doubt here for the exams. Almost certainly after your arrival, you decided to follow me."

She started to sweat a bit, wondering how she even got into this situation. Furthermore, she was wondering how the hell he knew that, when she was the first to see him. Wasn't she? "That's…true. I did follow you. It was purely on a whim." She felt sickened as she did this, 'sucking' up to him in an effort to receive clemency and leniency. It had already been established in her mind that he was dangerous, and felt it necessary. Although she **hated** when things weren't in her control. She was a bit of an egotistical controller herself, and once she had control, enjoyed letting other people know that she did. It was probably a nature she had developed from her less-than-entirely-kind past when things weren't in her power.

Currently, she was on her own, practically next to someone who could kill her because she could be some kind of threat to him, and no backup in case things went awry.

She…was not in control.

"I suppose I'll forgive it…this time," he said it all evenly, so it was a bit difficult to figure out if it actually were a threat. "What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"In case something like this happens again…you wouldn't want to end up in an unmarked grave." He was dismayed at the things coming out of his own mouth, and wished for a 'moment' to be given to him. Out of his peripherals, he could see her eyes widen and finally, he regained control. To his surprise, his watch started to beep.

'I've got ten minutes, or I'll risk not knowing what to do when this happens for real. I…I'll take the chance for two minutes more to find out more of her character, although it won't really affect things. Then I'll have to get the hell out of here.' He turned off the alarm, and turned to her. In a brief second, he took in her appearance very appreciatively, without being perverse.

Besides a hitai ate that held a sound symbol, she wore a June-plum green damage-negation vest, armbands that spanned almost from her wrist to her elbow, and a pair of grey, snake-like camouflage pants that had a double overlay in the form of a mini skirt. Further down, she wore shin-high shinobi sandals, and from where she stood, he saw something…unusual.

'Is that her…hair tied at the end with a purple ribbon?'

Indeed it was. That had to be the longest head of hair he had ever seen, and the only thing he could say that could easily rival that was her well-favored face, had it not been for her bonny inky orbs emanating fright.

Fright? Oh yeah, he did just come off as a very grim and austere person. 'Hmm…she must know about me already, for a foreign ninja curious to find out about someone who could kill Zabuza. She's scared. Definitely. Maybe the experience decided that I have to **make** her scared of me to keep her from wanting to excite conflict. I'll do it tomorrow, but nothing's stopping me from apologizing now, and later when it happens for real.'

"Hey, hey, that was…just a joke." He tried to play it off with a good natured grin, but she wasn't entirely convinced. "But seriously, did you expect me to just welcome the fact that you were stalking me?"

She seemed to accept this fact to some extent, and calmed a bit. "Yeah. Gomen. I…I should go." She was about to get up and leave, but he grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't. You look famished, and I was about to leave anyway."

She slipped back unto her stool after allowing herself to be handled and watched him get up, hand on her shoulder still before coming closer to stand next to her. He was practically looking down over her shoulder now as she kept staring ahead, trying to keep composed.

"Really. Sorry about the whole-"

"It's fine. Didn't you say that you have to be somewhere?" Her tone came off as half-harsh, and yet still a bit hinting of trepidation. He grunted at this, before he yelled to Ayame at the back that she needn't bother anymore, telling her that it was 'almost six'. All of a sudden, all the noise in the back ceased, as if the young woman had stopped cooking. This made Kin confused, as she could tell the difference, being well-versed in the ways of sound.

He leaned down a bit, almost speaking directly in her ear while she stiffened in fright. "I'll see you later for real, whoever you are."

And then he was out of the stand like a free-running bullet, sprinting on his journey back home. At the last, he made it home, and without hesitation, slipped underneath the covers, right as six 'o' clock struck.

 _ **In the morning (Next moment)**_

His alarm rung and woke him up. He yawned once, let himself off of the bed and stretched. As he groaned, he recalled all he had experienced during his slumber, and prepared for the day.

"Well, today's going to be interesting. At least the last part of it, anyway. Oh… I better send a clone over to Ayame-nee to warn her. I want everything to be guaranteed, but at the very least, maybe now that I'm in full control, I can find out that girl's name."

 **And that's a wrap.**

 **1- Yup, I love the word 'Tenacity'. It's obvious in all of my works.**

 **5150 words. Woo-hoo. Before you all turn into an angry mob to lynch me, let me try to rid you of any and confusion. Be warned, this note will be lengthy but it will explain everything. I suggest you read it. It'll make you (most of you, anyway) face-** _ **fist**_ **yourself at how the answer was mooning you in the face. Yes, just so you don't have to read the whole story again, I'll bring up specific evidence from previous chapters to show you all.**

 **-The** _ **Fore-Experience:**_ **This is the name I've given his 'clairvoyant' ability. Yes, he sees (read: experiences the future) so he's not time traveling. (Several items prove this. One, his lack of abilities to do some things when required of him, like learning jutsus. Example 1- Bunshin no jutsu in chapter two, example 2- Daitoppa in chapter twelve.) So he's not from the distant future, he's not time traveling or any of that.**

 **-Fundamental: He's experiencing the future, but if you want to get technical, he's 'seeing' it. That's true, but keep in mind that everything he knows is garnered from his perspective. All you just read from Kin's perspective is for the most part, filler for the chapter, as well as develop her character a tiny bit. Besides, how was I supposed to fill Naruto's day when he wasn't training? Well, a whole chapter on his day would have been filler too. But this chapter on a whole…chapter 13 was not filler. All he knows from other people and about other people is garnered from them during the experience, although for the most part, his body is not his to control.**

 **Example 1- Asuma's name was a bit technical, but Naruto learnt his name in an introduction from the experience. Also, he would've learnt Kakashi's during his introduction on their first day. Chapter three.**

 **Example 2- Zabuza's name was learnt during the experience by Kakashi's answer. Chapter six.**

 **-How it works: First, imagine someone telling you what to do. You do as you're told, and you get all you're supposed to do correctly. That's how it works. During the** _ **fore-experience**_ **, his body is not under his control (For the most part) and basically, like an instruction…**

 **(A deity telling you what to do.)**

 **(A teacher telling you the answers to your test.)**

 **(A fighting game teaching you the moves via the 'moves list'.)**

 **It** _ **makes**_ **him do what he's supposed to do. To be blunt, it 'knows' what happens for the whole entirety of its duration, and forces his body on all functions (except for thought) to act on the best outcome. Very simple, and easy. Right? Problem is, as I revealed today, is that sometimes the 'best outcome' is for** _ **himself**_ **. Naruto's still the guy he really is at heart, but the 'curse' of what he has just clouded over that. Hence…**

 **Example 1-…and the result was a half-broken piece of shit…one that barely saved Sakura's life, and kept his intact because it the experience was always trying to preserve his own life…all else that happened could be spontaneous at times, and he had to resolute himself to never do it again since that time.**

 **If he were less concerned for the welfare of others, this wouldn't be a problem, but…**

 _ **This means that the fighting for his own conflict was the only thing unchanged at that particular time, but could alter the 'plan' in other areas at that specific time.**_

 **When he diverts from that plan, other things can happen. The** _ **experience would have made Sasuke die, and he (Naruto) would live to return home.**_ **However, what happened during some events of Wave is not expounded here. Scroll further.**

 **-Criticality: This is what everything boils down to. I basically told you today, but it all depends on sleep.**

 **SLEEP!**

 **Feel free to slap yourselves.**

 **Example 1- …** _ **always went to sleep early**_ **. Chapter 1.**

 **Example 2-** _ **Naruto had bags under his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. He had probably spent most of his night studying and training, neglecting to rest his body.**_ **Hence why he did not get to foresee Mizuki's betrayal, and all events circling that. Chapter 1.**

 **Example 3-** _ **He slept for an hour…**_ **The test started as he woke up, and lasted for half-an-hour. I supposed that the taijutsu portion lasted for the second half too. This is how he knew all about the test and how to beat the anbu at taijutsu. Chapter 1 and chapter 2.**

 **Example 4-** _ **The boy was seated on a wooden bench and napped with his head in his lap.**_ **Chapter 6.**

 **Example 5-** _ **"Great." Naruto yawned. "Now leave me the hell alone. I'm tired."  
"About that…it's only six."  
"Your point is? More sleep, more rest, more productivity."**_ **Chapter 8.**

 **Example 6- This one was vague, but I did tell you where and how to find it.**

' **Wonderword': ASLEEP- As…Sun…Landscape…Eternal…Ethereal…Positive… (These are the only words with capital letters.) Chapter 8. [At the end of the chapter. Note: He did not know what to expect in the beginning of the experience.]**

' **Wonderword': AWAKE- As…Where…All…Knew…Ending…(These are the only words with capital letters.) Chapter 9. [At the start of the chapter. Note: He now knew what to expect as he was now awake and finished with the experience.]**

 **Example 7-** _**Because there was a plan. The Universe did not gamble its fate. It's all being controlled. But perhaps at present, Naruto was God. Knowledge was valuable. But by having the necessary increased reaction time, his ability to perform on the fly should increase exponentially. He would be invincible.**_

 _ **Pity that it depended on his body's basic needs. Truly a pity.**_ **Chapter 8.**

 **Example 8-** _ **"You were…(sniff) supposed to wake me up…"**_ **Chapter 9.**

 **These are all the clues that were to tell you that his ability relied on sleep. Now for the more convoluted details.**

 **If he experiences the next day, how much is the maximum that he can know? Eight hours of sleep for the experience? NO! By his own weird biology, he had developed the habit of sleeping 12 hours a day. He sleeps from six p.m. to six a.m., and experiences six a.m. to six p.m. the next day.**

 **That's not entirely shocking. Now that you knew it relied on sleep, doesn't this make sense? This is basically how he's been 'living twice'. Another critical point is that the experience begins at the point when he's…'destined' to wake up. I'm using the word 'destiny' so everyone's on the same page.**

 **So if he sleeps from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., he pre-experiences 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. This is not a questionable plot hole. This is TIME we're talking about. In fact, I'm still hoping that I'm sane.**

 **The time references were ALL over the fic. Believe me. Even if you don't count today's chapter.**

 **Example 1- Oh sweet divine mercies, the cover image is one. The '6' is a damn question mark. Upside down, that is, but I was hoping that it would make people pay more attention to the time.**

 **Example 2-** _ **…and he was in bed, promptly at six p.m.**_ **Chapter 1.**

 **Example 3-** _ **He slept for an hour…when the boy woke up with a deep gasp and grabbed her hand at the wrist. "One hour!"**_ **Chapter 1.**

 **Example 4- He had not slept all of the previous night, and it would not have mattered, for he did not foresee Mizuki's betrayal that night and was not prepared for it. Also, he did not know if he would pass the genin exams or not. '** _ **I should have tried to find out if I would pass or not.'**_ **Chapter 2.**

 **Example 5-** _ **…as was his habit everyday to awaken at this time.**_ **Chapter 3.**

 **Example 6- …** _ **before going to bed at six, just as usual.**_ **Chapter 3.**

 **Example 7-** _ **His eyes snapped open suddenly…A second later, his clock changed to 6:00 am.**_ **(BTW, the time was in bold. [HINT!]) Chapter 4.**

 **Example 8- …falling asleep at six pm in their assigned room. Chapter 7.**

 **Example 9-** _ **"Great." Naruto yawned. "Now leave me the hell alone. I'm tired."  
"About that…it's only six."  
"Your point is? More sleep, more rest, more productivity."**_ **Chapter 8.**

 **Example 10- Author's note- I finished the chapter with exactly six thousand words. Chapter 8.**

 **Maybe I missed a few. I don't know. Point is, it all came back to that time, which should have hinted to his sleeping abnormalities.**

 **-Technicalities: I addressed the ones pertaining to the genin exams, like the Mizuki clash. He did not foresee it, blah blah blah.**

 **But let's move on to Wave. This was very controversial for me and numerous others. I'll be as clear as possible, and laugh at you as I recount how careful I've been.**

 **When he indirectly saved Sasuke's life by saving Sakura's, he altered the plan, which was for Sasuke to die and all else to return to Konoha. Nice and safe Konoha.**

 **But with that said and done, the 'predicted' future was changed drastically from that point on, as they weren't to meet Zabuza. They continued the mission, and Naruto was…a worrywart, as well as trying to make the best decisions based on choices given to him.**

 _ **Naruto glanced at Sakura. 'She's alive. At least that I was able to ensure that but I don't know the consequences of what I did. Not knowing, is dangerous. Ignorance nearly killed me when I stole the scroll of kinjutsu and it cost Iruka his life. Just when he promised that he would look out for me the week before. He didn't deserve to die. He died trying to save me. This…knowledge. Is it a blessing…or a curse?'**_

 _ **He stared out in front of him, his eyebrows furrowing.**_

' _ **In all that happens, and will happen, I'll try to make the most of it. History will be kind as errors are fixed…'**_

 **Get it? Moving on to the fight with Zabuza.**

 **Huh? He didn't foresee that fight if he was supposed to go back home when Sasuke died-?**

 **Wrong.**

 **He slept on the ferry ride. Plot hole filled. But wait a minute? He didn't expect Haku to-?**

 **Just stop. Think about it. How long could he have slept on the ferry for? It just so happened that he slept enough to know how to fight Zabuza, but he woke up just before he experienced Haku's intervention. Let's call that plot hole half-filled, but half is better than none. Besides, if I specified the time he slept and then fought for, that hint would have been too damn huge.**

" _ **Well…shit. Didn't see that coming."**_

 **And that's how he didn't expect anything else for the rest of the day. In fact, I recommend that you even skim that chapter briefly. It's chapter seven. He didn't expect questions, he didn't answer in his usual manner, Kakashi startled him, unforeseen variables pertaining to Haku thieving back the sword, getting stoned badly, so on and so forth. In fact, it was for that reason why he resolved to train his reflexes for things he won't or didn't expect. Character development.**

 **Now…let's move on to the meeting with Haku.**

 **You know what happened in 'real life' in chapter nine when she got killed violently, and what happened (what should've) in chapter ten. This is not confusing. Trust me.**

 **-The thing is, 'what should have happened' was basically an extension of him beating himself unconscious by accident. Maybe Haku saw the anime-style bump swell or something. He got knocked out, and they were amicable with each other. The plan from the night before told him what to do**

 **-What actually happened that morning was that he wussed out instead of being willing to get himself knocked out with a two-by-four plank of wood and decided to just nap a bit, hoping for the same effect. Maybe Haku did NOT see the anime-style bump or something. He slept and was shown a new plan; one in which they fought. Keep in mind that he did NOT have a head to heal, if you know what I mean. He was fine, weapons were secure on his person, no signs of struggle that she could see. Big future change.**

 **(Also, bear in mind that he cannot wake up** _ **before**_ **when he's destined to. That is, when the plan starts. So if he 'wakes' up in the plan at seven, he can't intentionally wake himself at six. So all the smartasses who think he should have woken up and bugged out before the conflict, don't even try to tell me.)**

 **-By not following the 'plan' which would have, without a doubt the best for his health, he fell asleep and foresaw the fight. In the experience, he did try to talk down Haku and leave, but control's not entirely his, so all of that fell into place. He was very grief-stricken, but he killed her regardless, because if he deviated, it's possible that he would have been the one to perish. Character development.**

" _ **Time must run its course. Two things happened. We either talked about the idealism of having a precious person to fight for, to protect."**_

"…"

" _ **And after that, we both walked away. In a second format," He continued in all seriousness. "We fight, and I killed you."**_

" _ **Who's to say that I won't kill you, instead of me perishing?"**_

" _ **There's no one to say that. But I hope that you'll still just do as I instruct."**_

…

" _ **I was afraid of this. I hoped…I prayed…I begged…"**_ **Chapter nine.**

…

' _ **Was it because I was a coward? Because I didn't want to knock myself out? Is it because I decided to just take a half hour's worth of sleep hoping for the same effect? Is it my fault why I bonded with her without her even knowing of it, and then killing her?'**_

…

"…" _**More tears ran freely. They clouded and blurred his vision, but he had the knowledge necessary to dodge the elder man's strikes with his eyes closed. "Did I poison time against myself?!" He yelled at the man.**_

…

" _ **Is it your fault? Or mine? I forwent one step. ONE STEP! And she's DEAD! Is it my fault?! OR IS IT HER LOYATY TO YOU?!**_

"… _**I'm avenging her, not you!"**_

" _ **Pull yourself together, Naruto." The boy muttered, as he visibly flinched from the nuke nin's accusation. "Damn-it-all; I don't know anymore. I just wanted to be her friend, you know? We met, and we became friends. But just before that actually happened, I bitched things up. Because after all my training to inflict self-injury, it turns out that I didn't have the balls to knock myself out to meet her in the end. I just took a nap. Does that make sense?"**_ **Chapter 10.**

 **-And so, the final puzzle piece falls into place. Everything has been explained. For those who read Breaking Limits, this is going to be the way I'll explain things too when it ends. Hah.**

 **-Ayame knows all the details surrounding his ability. Someone had to know, and I made it to be her. Hence her 'strange' behavior shown today.**

 **-Why I'm finally spilling my guts? Does anyone remember anything funny pertaining to a certain…jutsu?**

 **-It was fun holding this tidbit of info over your heads, but at the risk of confusing the hell out of you later, I did it now. You're welcome.**

 **Miscellaneous:**

 **I don't want to see any reviews about people saying that they 'had a feeling', 'had a hunch', 'knew but didn't feel like saying anything', forget it. I don't wanna see or hear it. You could have said something a long time ago, but you didn't say anything. Phooey on you.**

 **You can argue that he cannot really fight at night then…whatever. I did mention that he was training besides, and he still beat Mizuki with no chakra. He is stronger than canon without the** _ **fore-experience**_ **, but it's just that it's a decisive advantage.**

 **Inspiration: I got some inspiration from Video-game instruction. (Move's list. What, you're gonna fumble with it when the list is basically telling you how to kick ass?) The second source is 'refresh'. I think I told some people about that a crucial part of his ability relies on something located on every internet page, and it's a part of your browser. REFRESH. If he was from the distant future from say, five years from now and changes events in year one…year two could get him killed from things you won't foresee. This type of situation happens in time stories/movies/shows all the time. See? He needed a 'refresh' when he slept on the ferry to Wave, since he had changed events. So, not like 'Groundhog Day', but it's more like 'Next'. He's always caught up to speed about the next day, so he's always prepared…when he sleeps, that is.**

 **Also, kudos to the guy who came closest to the complete answer.**

 _Colshan chapter 6 . Dec 5, 2015_

 _Ok imma take a wild guess here...he sees what gonna happen the day before...include perfect recall, which would explain why he knows exactly when something is going to happen. They would also explain why when he does something different the changes surprise him. That's just my theory._

 **Yeah, I edited it so you get the right answer.**

 **This ability that he's got was actually a recycled ability meant for Breaking Limits. I had quite a few abilities, but I scrapped some as being too damn overpowered. This was one of them, and I decided to create a time story. I was torn between doing one with either Kin or Tayuya, but Illuminated advised me to ship Kin instead. (I appreciate it, and I don't regret the choice.) You have him to thank. But if you preferred Tayuya, then you know who to lynch.**

 **That's all. 8221 words. Steep. 8224, 8225, 8226…**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Living** **Twice**

 **I'm so proud! I've finally gotten the explanation off of my chest! I hope I didn't get Illuminated killed by Tayuya shippers. You still alive, man?**

 ***Silence***

 **Meh, I'll ask later. Anyway, let's move on, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. What I do own, however, is just enough planned time to type this fic. I've sacrificed so much time; time I could have used to scratch my head, thinking what to type...oh wait a minute. Damn. Got trapped in a loop.**

 **14.**

Naruto blinked disinterestedly. "I hate seeing you gamble. You're just fortunate I hate seeing you lose." 'Damn, déjà vu struck again.'

"I wish you'd have told me that 'Shinigami's Judgment' would've won."

"You told me that you hated that stallion."

"I did? Oh…you mean _last night._ " Ayame said conspirationally. "Damn, that _gift_ is _weird_. I wish I had it. I'd make a killing by gambling."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't work in the stand anymore. Call me selfish, but I'd rather you stay to keep making me ramen," Naruto replied gruffly with a grin. 'Hmm.' He checked his watch and counted the seconds, although he had virtually perfect recall and didn't need to. 'Three…two…one…'

The kunoichi stepped inside after a brief bout of hesitations. Without a moment of faltering, Naruto followed through with the plan flawlessly. Truthfully, the only thing he did in deviation was to sneak glances at her but that didn't change a thing.

…

…

…

The alarm on his watch rung, and he turned it off deftly. He was now in unfamiliar waters after six pm, and all that transpired here he would not have hither from the before knowledge of it, nor would he know how to negate it or to initiate it. But he was fine. She felt thoroughly intimidated by him and that was good…right? She was a foreign kunoichi and she was his competition. Fear was the key in this case and that was aiding him. At the very least, it was keeping her from getting any ideas about jumping him but would she really? It was against the rules of the village and furthermore, it would cost herself her own eligibility for the exams.

Perhaps he had done enough.

"So you won't tell me?"

"What's it matter?!" She snarled. "My name is only for me!"

"Seeing as how you decided to follow me, you probably know my name; my entire identity, even. Since you know mine, so it's obviously fair if I know yours." He answered calmly. "I apologize for coming off as an austere person. Now that should ease any tension-"

She got up at this and was about to attempt to leave but instead, Naruto made a bluff. "If you take another step, I'll break your legs," he stated sternly.

She re-seated herself.

"I'm doing this mostly for your own benefit."

"…"

"I eat here very regularly, so I of all people should know if the food is good or not. You'll like it; trust me."

Currently, the girl had the recurring thought that she needed to run away screaming if she wanted to live. Her 'companion' had fluctuating polar vibes and yet completely mixed; she couldn't tell if he was trying to make her aquaintance or if he was toying with her. Well, if it were the first one, she didn't particularly care she made a friend or not. It wasn't as if she wanted any. If it were the latter scenario, then she was in more danger than she had originally feared, not to mention that she was all on her lonesome; even the cook was around the back portion, out of sight. If he wanted to, he could slit her throat and walk out whistling.

She glanced sideways to see him smiling at her and was completely taken aback.

"You won't be disappointed. To be perfectly frank, I'm sure you were traveling a lengthy distance so you must be hungry. That should make the food even more appetizing."

She declined to say anything. What could she have said even if she had wanted to?

"Well, the food's done!" Ayame beamed as she re-entered with the two bowls and placed them down before her customers. "Dig in you two!"

"It's about time. Thanks a lot," Naruto thanked her as he leaned forward and began eating. Kin merely mumbled an 'arigato' before she commenced eating as well. She was barely three mouthfuls in before her eyes widened slightly.

'Wow! This is really good!'

Naruto could tell that she enjoyed it. It was evident in her hastened eating, sheer concentration to avoid spilling a single drop and the fact that she was done before him. Although it was fair to say that he was making an effort to remain composed in his eating outlook. That was accomplished by eating at a slower pace.

"Want another bowl?" The Uzumaki asked her without even turning his head to look at her. "I'll pay."

'Why does he insist on trying…whatever he's trying?!' She questioned mentally in exasperation. 'He's threatening me one minute, and then he wants to pay for my meal? I wish he'd just make up his damn mind. Hmm…maybe I could use this to get closer to him and I could better spy on him. I won't have to blunder my way in my espionage when he obviously has good detection skills. Maybe it was a mistake on my part. But with that said, what's to say he won't catch on to my ploy and kill me anyway.'

Overall, a bad day to be her, she supposed.

"I can pay for myself," she answered. In doing so, she realized that she herself was undecided in what she wanted to do. Whether she wanted to stay or to leave, she was merely stalling until she could figure out what she wanted/needed to do. 'I can't disappoint Orichimaru, as much as I detest him. If only…'

Naruto merely gazed at her with interest as theories blazed through his mind. He couldn't understand why the experience would seem to want him to make her acquaintance. He basically led her to one of his frequented haunts to eat and _then_ make him verbalize several threats to keep her docile. What was its aim? He must be missing some crucial part; if only he had slept late or something. Then he'd know what to do right now.

'Right now.' He licked his lips as he glanced at his watch. It was now 6:30 pm. 'I'm not doing anything tomorrow anyway, and it's been a long time since I was out at night.'

"I have to go." Kin got up and this time, he didn't withhold her departure. He was too deep in thought. As if on autopilot, he mechanically paid Ayame the money, called out to Teuchi in the back of the restaurant and made his leave to his home to get some shut-eye.

 **=X=X=**

"So, where did you go? It's seven o' clock. Where've you been for four hours?" Dosu asked.

"I met the guy I'm supposed to spy on." She stated bluntly and carelessly. She didn't really give a damn at the moment as she decided that she needed to hit the sack, especially after the day she's had.

"Hmm? What was he like?" He asked curiously. He rather liked being in the know and being kept up to date on the abilities of others. But not to the point of virtual suicide; who knows what the blond was like. In fact, Zaku should have been counting his lucky stars. Instead, his other teammate was busy griping about how boring and bland it was spying on her. Boring was good, Dosu figured. It was safe. In fact, if he knew Kin the way he thought he did, then she was begrudging Zaku for his pick as well.

"Naruto, wasn't it?" She frustrated. "The guy was confusing the hell out of me. One minute, he threatens me, then the next, acts as if he's a good guy or something, and then it's back to the death threats."

"How did you two even meet?"

"By the time we made it to here, I decided to just find myself some food at the market-"

"Why a market?" Dosu queried. As he spoke, he started to clean his sound gauntlet.

"I…wanted some food." This was a half-lie. While she wasn't really after just food in particular, it could be blamed on the fact that the smell of fruit that beckoned to her at the time reeked of familiarity. "Anyway, once I made it there, I see him coming out of what I think was some kind of child's play store."

"A play store?" Dosu belayed his cleaning and looked up with an unbelieving stare. "You've gotta be fuckin' with me-"

"I'm serious! I decided to follow him in the same moment but…"

"But what?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he noticed me from the get-go and led me to a place to get a bite to eat. That's without me knowing anything."

"Well, you're either that terrible-"

"He's just that good," Kin insisted. "Just trade Sasuke for him, huh?"

"Now hold on. You were basically stalking after him and he let you go?"

"Well…yeah." She admitted hesitantly.

"Then you're the best person to continue following him."

"Are you crazy?!" She hissed. "He threatened to kill me if he ever caught me doing it again."

"Then don't do it." Dosu advised with a knowing air.

"…Huh?"

 **=X=X=**

"Good evening, Hokage-sama."

"When we're in my home study, it's either Hiruzen or Sarutobi," the elder man claimed. "You don't see me wearing my hat, do you?"

"…No." Kakashi conceded the point. "That's true…Sarutobi-sama."

"I suppose it can't be helped. What do you want? It's nine at night."

"I won't be long. I wanted to talk to you about Naruto. How secure is this room?"

"My own study? Not even Kami knows what happens in here."

"Good," Kakashi mumbled. "Anyway, it's about Naruto."

"What about him?" Hiruzen asked. "Is he in trouble? Is he causing it?"

"No. It's about how he knows future events."

"…With the chunin exams right around the corner, you're either here to make a bet, tell me that you have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen and want to ask him what, or if he's deserving of a chunin title if he has such a remarkable talent. Personally, I'd rather just promote him now and be done with it. I'm sure that rumors are flying about him defeating Zabuza. If he's promoted to chunin, it might save the dead man some face."

"The latter two. I also have a premonition of a less than pleasant exam."

"When has it ever been pleasant?" Hiruzen answered wisely.

"That's true. On the Wave mission, he related to me how I got Sasuke killed. I told you before, I believe. But it didn't happen."

"The future is set in stone. At the very least, it is unless Naruto sets into motion certain events that can make it crumble," the wizened old man responded sagistically. "But he's going through a difficult time, trying to cope with Haku's death if your report is to be believed."

"That's true. Although I want what's best for him, I think we should make some further use of his ability." Kakashi explained.

"I refuse to." The Hokage replied in a stalwart tome. "So long as it's not to the detriment of Konoha, it's his own gift to use as he wishes."

"I understand, Sarutobi-sama." Kakashi monotoned with a nod.

"As for any sort of premonitions we may have, they are fruitless. I'm sure that if Naruto has a reason to raise an alarm, then I'm sure that he will come through with the solution. He never fails from that viewpoint. Anyway, are you training them properly?"

"I have. I have completed my training of them, but now they will develop their own skills. I wish for them to improve on their own skills because they won't always have a teacher, specifically me."

"…"

"…"

"This is you belief that at least one of them will become chunin and the team will be broken up. You also want them to surprise you in the exams."

"Hai."

"Kakashi?" The village leader asked pointedly.

"Yes?"

"Iwa's coming to the exams here in the Leaf."

"…I suppose that in itself justifies my sense of foreboding. No doubt the more rowdier and paranoid of them will believe that Naruto is the son of sensei. In fact, the more I look at Naruto, the more I'm reminded of him. They're so alike, it's unsettling."

Sarutobi's eyes widened in realization. "Of course! Kakashi! It's Minato!"

Kakashi dressed back a step or two. "What about him?"

"Think! It's Minato! His prowess on the battlefield…imagine…"

"…"

"Do you recall his practical destruction of Iwa battalions?"

"Hai."

"Even using shunshins can have a disconcerting effects when one's area of location and perspective changes. The **Hiraishin** (Flying Thunder God technique) which is superior would have a parallel increase in the effects of the symptoms."

"What are you implying, Hoka-"

The elder man cleared his throat loudly.

"Sarutobi-sama?" The Hatake corrected.

"Minato was no Uchiha and most certainly had no sharingan."

"…"

"…"

Kakashi closed his visible eye in deep thought, starting to connect the dots. "…I'm beginning to see where you're going with this."

 **=X=X=**

"Well, that's that. What's her angle this time, huh?" Naruto asked himself. Sure enough, he had experienced this day as well and while he knew of her loophole; ('It was a very good one,' he decided,) he still had no idea why she was so focused on him.

Although to be just, he also had no idea why he was so focused on her.

'Well, she's pretty. That's about it." He reasoned. "I can't think of any other reasons. Besides, she's a stranger. If I really was after camaraderie, even if it were subconsciously, I would've just stayed with Hinata. It's gotta be something else.'

He opened his eyes and looked up to see her sitting in the park bench across the way, gazing at him. As soon as he looked up however, she herself got up, walked over to him and **sat** beside him.

"Didn't I tell you to stop following me?" He asked while propping himself with a stink-eye. He already knew the answer but he had many reasons why he had to proceed with the 'plan'.

"I'm not," she answered succinctly with a smug undertone. "I'm merely a companion. I'm not stalking, nor am I following you. I'm _beside_ you _._ "

Although it was arguably a ridiculously stupid move on her part, one couldn't deny that it must have been a fantastic idea on paper. It was in fact a great idea. She was confident in her abilities and she didn't have to train in the next two weeks…whether or not she passed the exam was of no consequence, even though it would be a perk. All that was necessary was to watch him train to see what he was capable of, or her presence would keep him from training. Surely, the card said that he was always training. He was either insecure about his strength to keep training, or she would get to observe it. A pipe dream, but it was better than a horrific nightmare. In this case, however, the difference between the two was virtually transparent.

He started chortling. "Well then. In any case, will you tell me your name?"

She had been drilled to answer questions that didn't affect their mission truthfully, like that of her name. He'd find out during the exam anyway, so she might as well tell him while in the volatile present. It might make him easy-going in her presence.

"My name is Kin."

"Kin, huh?" He glanced at her hitai ate and once more 'took note' of the sound note. "So the sound note symbol on your forehead-"

"It's a coincidence." She interrupted abruptly. She was well aware of her name's ties with sound and thought it to be a bizarre happening, nothing else. Apart from that, she still needed to be wary of the blond she had plopped herself beside. She wouldn't have even followed through with this suicide plan if Kabuto hadn't stopped by and approved of it when Dosu mentioned what they were up to. It wasn't unlike him, but Kabuto liked staying on top of things versed by espionage. If Kabuto was interested in the boy as well, then that meant that her spying interest had qualities to him, namely those that defined a ninja.

And then he told her to be careful.

If Kabuto of all people told her to be careful, even if he feigned it as a mild joke, then this boy really was no mere genin.

"A ryo for your thoughts?" Naruto asked, breaking her out of her mental line.

"No."

"Well, aren't we amicable," Naruto muttered under his breath.

 **=X=X=**

It had been seven days, and the exact same remained before the exams commenced. It was now Monday morning and Kin had finally come to her 'senses'.

He wasn't about to do **anything** with her close by.

She was back to square one. That is, following him but doing her best to avoid being detected. While no stranger to the art of remaining silent, a lack of a positive outlook wasn't doing her any good. If she so much as made one mistake…

"Henge," she whispered as she formed the ram seal. In a small poof of smoke, she had cast the illusionary technique around herself to give her the appearance of a civilian. Her hair now brown and in a bun and only came a bit over one shoulder, finishing the look with a blouse and a knee length skirt. After observing that the henge was flawless, she let herself fall out of the tree and stood just behind it to observe her quarry.

'What's he doing?'

He (Naruto) unsealed what looked like two pipes around four feet long. He then seated himself under a tree not to far from where she was and her pulse quickened as she realized that she was in an optimum place to watch him while he'd be unable to see or notice her presence. He was doing something new, that was for sure.

He removed a file from his pocket and started rasping it against one end and after about five minutes, had succeeded in producing a point. A few minutes later, the second pipe had a point as well.

'Hmm…maybe he's making a weapon. I can finally learn something useful.'

Continuing to carefully take note of his actions, he retrieved a paper of some sort ('Probably a paper bomb,' she thought') balled it up and took a small stick to push it down to the bowels of the rod's slightly bloated end. A pellet-like something was then dropped inside after it, making a 'clink' sound to signify the end of its descent.

And then a shadow clone of Naruto decided that she had seen enough. Tapping on her shoulder from behind to get her attention, it slapped a liquid-filled balloon into her face as soon as she turned around. Judging from her scream that rose up in a piercing din, Naruto actually winced.

"Well, it's not meant to get in the eyes after all, not to mention it's a mild acid."

…

…

…

After an evening of furiously flushing her eyes with water and another three hours in the shower to get rid of the smell of vinegar off of her, Zaku actually tried to follow Naruto the next day since that Kin was getting more 'action' than him. He returned that evening moaning and bawling about 'salt and pepper'. Easily recalling the vinegar, she could understand what he was crying about and sympathize with him, since salt and pepper was far more potent than vinegar.

She couldn't help but ponder that he might've gone a lot harder on Abumi but after a brief stint of thinking, she started to think that he had gone easier on her. This thinking was done when Zaku remained inside, skittish of light for a whole two days. The salt and pepper mix was definitely a lot harsher…the grains were stubborn on his eyeballs.

…

…

…

Thursday was current and she observed nothing but what was presumably him getting pelted with a melee of weapons, stones and other miscellaneous items by a dozen of his creations that looked like him. While she already knew of his usage of such a cloning technique, she couldn't help but covet the jutsu, wishing that she herself had it. She constantly had an eye on her own surroundings while she watched him and soon asked herself-

"Why the hell is he stoning himself?"

"Well, why the hell do you Sound ninjas keep stalking me?"

She looked up and saw him standing in the tree above her and dropped down beside her on the ground. She didn't bother trying to run. If anything, she'd talk him down.

"Well?" He continued. "Are you going to answer me or do I have to assume that you don't have anything else better to do?"

She was about to answer him but he interrupted by slightly chuckling in manic-esque manner. He himself had no idea how it came off like that, but it **did** happen.

"You know what? Fuck the experience. I have no fucking idea why it's interested in you. It makes me meet you, makes me let you off with warnings…I'm tired of it." He glowered at her and she felt like the atmosphere had become more foreboding and particularly dangerous. She recognized it as killing intent but what she witnessed over the course of her life made it tolerable enough to withstand, if only barely. "Kin, I swear to Kami, if I ever see you following me, stalking, observing or any other shit you can pull out of your ass ever happens again, I'll _kill you._ That goes double for your other bastard teammates."

With a minute nod to signal that she understood his intentions, she left to return back to the hotel where she was staying. The Uzumaki merely stared after her but stayed as he were, letting himself collapse unto the ground, lying flat on his back.

"Why?"

He stared up into the green of the forest roof, wondering if his actions right now, or rather a lack of one, was actually the best option.

"I…I'm supposed to follow her to the hotel and listen in at the window. Their primary focus is Sasuke, but they hold interest in me because I'm… _strong._ "

He spoke the last to himself in scorn. He didn't fancy himself as 'strong'. Rather, he just decided that he wasn't as weak as some people. However, in the _fore-experience_ from last night, he had basically turned the tables on her and spied on the Oto team itself. He certainly didn't have to the second time, seeing as he already knew what he was supposed to do/learn.

"But this Kabuto fellow…he was wearing a leaf insignia on his hitai ate. Why would he appear to give the three Oto genin orders? They want to kill all the members of team 7? Why? A grudge, maybe?"

Something definitely wasn't sitting right. But Naruto did what he had been doing all his life.

He ignored it.

 **=X=X=**

"Kabuto-sama, I still don't understand why you approve of us to follow him. We all know that he's no ordinary genin. Isn't that reason enough to-"

"No, Kin." The medic-nin interrupted. "It's merely for your own benefit."

"Huh?" Zaku asked stupidly. "How's it benefiting us? I got pepper and salt in my eyes-"

"I'm well aware. I'm sure that you know that if I were to inform Orichimaru-sama of your incompetence to even observe a single genin, he'd deem you as no longer useful."

Kin paled. She had never _seen_ what had happened to people who were 'useless'. Instead, she had always **heard** them. All of them were identified by agonized screaming and screeching and usually in a state that would compel even a pacifistic saint to kill them…with a blunt instrument.

"You mentioned that it was for our benefit." Dosu asked. "Why? Isn't our target the Uchiha?"

"No. Here's an update. Burn after reading." Kabuto tossed a small rolled up pepper to Dosu, who read it aloud.

"Hmm…It says to kill the whole team during the second phase of the exams. It also says that Sasuke is to be killed last in order. The fuck knows why. Maybe it's a psychological ploy or something but I don't understand. Why the secrecy if they just want us to kill the guy in the exams?"

"Something's not settling right," Zaku agreed.

Kin decided to just ignore it. Another day, another meager attempt to appease her 'bosses' in order to keep her pathetic existence in check. What was there that she could do? They were the strongest she knew; chances that anyone could relieve her of their rule were remote.

"But why would he insist on us watching Naruto?" Kin wondered. "Our target is the Uchiha. Kabuto keeps telling me to watch Naruto. I don't know anymore…it's like I picked the worst hand in life."

"More like the wrong straw," Zaku couldn't help but guffaw. "I might as well tail the pink-headed one. She looks like she's training in suiton." His mirth ended at Dosu's next line.

"And when we kill the Uchiha…what could the next mission be? What would be our purpose?"

Kin had no idea what. She had long regretted blundering into the service of the White Snake, but those feelings had long since substituted for one of casual acceptance of her fate. Besides, she had a feeling that she wasn't going to be around much longer. She was bound to fail watching Naruto, and if he actually didn't kill her, it was far less merciful to die slowly in the service of Oto.

 **=X=X= (Saturday)**

Finally, Naruto had his answers.

It had taken him two days ( **FOUR DAYS** ), or rather the _fore-experience_ gave him the answers he sought. Well, he didn't doubt the information but he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt when he recalled how he had threatened her. There was an even bigger piece of the picture to be seen but at least the pieces were coming together to form a decent bit from which to make theories and assumptions.

It also helped knowing that today he was making things right. But everything had to be done exactly and to the even minutest detail. Today's future was tailor made to be perfect and it had never let him down before.

"Pawns, huh?" Naruto whispered softly. "But is it telling me to help her or to avoid Kabuto? What else is there to know? Hmm…"

He walked along the crowded roadway before he recalled what happened. 'Alright. So I need to make a switch without him knowing. Me losing my temper must've been a part of the plan, so now Kabuto thinks that the threat must be 'encouraging' her to improve on her spying on me. In truth, I'm only ignoring her now, but Kabuto…he's using her as a distraction because he's watching me too. Of course I would've never seen him before, especially when Kin's practically bumbling around compared to him. If it were just him, I would've been overly paranoid and be alerted. But with Kin watching me as well, he believed I would have never noticed him.'

Naruto snarled at this.

'I know what I have to do. I have to pick the lesser of two evils, but one of them is going to see. Today just happened to be horrible timing.'

 **Well, even I can admit this was far from an action-filled chapter. All I really did was to tell you what's happening in the next chapter. Also, I know that this chapter made quite a few people, namely Naruto, Kin, Dosu act OOC. I guess that's what happens when you re-hash the protagonist's character and mess around with people who barely said ten lines in the anime.**

 **Development as to further show that Naruto can learn things from the fore-experience but refuse to re-act on it to 'find it out again'. Like finding out the horse's name, but didn't ask Ayame again. Or he actually followed Kin to the hotel when he sent her away in the experience, but didn't do it the second time. (This was hinted) Apparently, the experience also acts a bit like the principle of the movie 'Source Code' in which a man continually relives eight minutes in his memory. However, instead of doing what already did in the past, he's free to pursue whatever and learn whatever in the past, like say, Google some info when he never experienced that. However, I avoided that route by making the experience control Naruto so he's not free to wander around the nations or do some crime and get away with it, knowing he'd just wake up hunky-dory. (Cough cough-Groundhog Day-cough cough)**

 **The next chapter is and promises to not be a bore.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Living Twice**

 **Hello again, it's MRAY, everyone. It's been a while, but I'm back and I'm ready to upload another chapter. I won't stall; read, enjoy and review. That shouldn't be too hard…I'm sure that this chapter will be able to turn some heads. Also, for irrelevant information, I'm using Libre Office that this site recommends. I don't think I like it all that much, and I'm hardly fifty words in.**

 **(Five minutes later.)**

 **Well, I'm bailing from it. I'd rather use WIN-WORD 2007 than use Libre. It hasn't let me down before.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **15.**

Kin ducked into the alleyway and stuck her head out only slightly as she observed her quarry; said person of interest decided to enter a clothing store and from the looks of things, he was none the wiser to her presence. At least, she hoped so.

She really did.

The Uzumaki…she felt that his need for clothes was rather 'iffish'. While he needed clothes, he didn't really 'need' it. His want for a better and larger wardrobe was certainly there but the timing was weird. The Chunin exams were set on Monday, a measly two days from now currently. As it were, it was now Saturday and everyone was out in the streets, whether they were social all week long or if they were voluntary recluses who despised rubbing shoulders. The call of the end of the week summoned all to mill in the streets to shop, leisure in social activities and so on.

She felt it would've been difficult to remain undetected on the normal days of the week, but now, the hustle and bustle was sure to hide her. All she needed was a transformation technique performed and she'd blend in. She had already done so and the ever present fear of getting caught was nulled a bit.

'I'd better get closer…' Tsuchi reasoned. She frowned in distaste at the thought; surely, it wasn't necessary. After all, it was just a clothing store.

A clothing store…two days before the Chunin exams.

Well, she was ordered by Kabuto to keep him in her sights and unless she wanted to become an experiment wishing for death, she'd better follow. The only problem was that it was obvious that the crowds of the village were certainly not occupying a single clothing store and the thinner numbers were sure to expose her. She was full hidden but to go in the establishment where the boy himself was…it could be said that Naruto always knew of her presence but he had yet to catch her, or _confront_ her if he already knew of her proximity since his threat.

The one that would condemn her to death. How he'd carry it out, or when, she didn't know. What she did know however, was that she wasn't about to test the waters.

She deliberated for all of three minutes before she stepped out of the alley and suppressing the growing nervousness that swelled inside her like a physical block in her throat, trying to rob her of the functionality of her breathing channel. Steeling herself after three minutes, Kin stepped out after a brief battle with her sense of practicality and trepidation and entered the store.

'It's not all of the village, but it's crowded too…I guess I can make this work after all…'

That she could. The store was packed with men, teens and mothers with young children, shopping for clothing, footwear and all of it done at a bargain. Evidently, a sale was going on.

'So he's lacking financially? I'm sure that he can buy clothes anytime he wants. The ninfo card said that he had cashed in on Zabuza's bounty. He's got the coin, so maybe he's thrifty. I'd better find him, before he finds me.' She strolled to a clothing bin close to the front entrance of the store in case she needed to flee in a hurry and busied herself there. Like everyone else at the bargain bin, she removed an article of clothing, held it against her person where it would be applied, hem and haw about it and put it back as if she disagreed with it.

All the while, scanning all she could see with glances and unnoticeable stares, trying to find the blond.

The thing was, not even one blond could be seen.

'Oh no,' she worried at this, 'where is he? Is he using a henge too?'

"Excuse me." Kin felt a startling tap on her shoulder and nearly jumped out of her skin, panicking that it was him. Her bearings quickly returned, and she angled her head to turn left to see the person behind her was an apparent store clerk. The clerk was a teenage girl, presumably sixteen or seventeen with a pleasant face but was slightly hinting that they wished that they were elsewhere. "I couldn't help but notice that it looks as if you can't decide that you need. Do you want some help? Suggestions, maybe?"

'Help? Definitely. Although it's probably not the way she's thinking.' "No thanks, I'm fine."

"Really? Sure didn't look that way to me," the teenager pressed.

"I'm fine," Kin insisted, hoping that the clerk would just go away and leave her alone. Her presence close to her was sure to attract attention. "But since you asked…um…" The Oto kunoichi hesitated as a new thought came to be in the recesses of her mind, providing a new way to spy, although from a questionable perspective. It egged her on to say it, to tackle the latest idea it provided. "I'm, uh, trying to…" She motioned the teenager closer to her for privacy and whispered in her ear. "I'm looking for something… _lacy_ …"

She hissed the last gently and thankfully, no one else heard and so there were no awkward reactions, save for the clerk who grinned. The teen then pointed to the rear end of the shop and Kin took the direction and excuse to change her location without appearing suspicious. She had a perfectly 'legitimate' reason to, as there was nothing she wanted at where she was before. But that wasn't the only reason.

That particular area was sure to be far less patronized at present and this was proven true when she saw three people there. In fact, counting herself, there were only three people in what was a whole damn lingerie aisle but Kin had wished there would have been none other than herself there. To be content to search from a location that the blond was sure to not occupy and scope out the whole store. Still, a few people was better than having it full, she supposed.

She removed an item off of shelf rack that basically hid the lingerie aisle from the rest of the store and created an opening she could peer through. After looking through the space between the remaining items on the shelf and yet failed to spot Naruto, she placed the good back where it belonged and moved further down the aisle to try again where the goods still on the shelves had impeded her vision. She repeated the process and still…no Naruto to be found. Either the henge he had was perfect, or he had virtually disappeared.

"Where is he?" She muttered worriedly. "I've…failed. I'm as good as dead."

"Now, why is that?" A new voice spoke from behind her.

She didn't bother trying to run, try to defend herself, try to fight. She merely turned around slowly to see the three ordinary people from before in the aisle standing a mere two feet away from her. The one in the middle had released his henge to reappear as Naruto, the one to the left did as well, but the third did another henge to appear as Kin in her current transformation. The last one was a bit disconcerting, but Naruto continued speaking.

"Why is that?" He repeated. "Is it because I told you specifically to leave me alone? Or is it some other ultimatum given you that has your life pre-offered as forfeit should you fail to gather information on me?"

His tone was plain but carried allusions of condescension and yet surprisingly, a tiny amount of sympathy. Or regret, whichever one.

It was hard to tell.

She wasn't raised to be knowledgeable, but she knew enough to understand what he was saying. "Both."

With resolution strong, she prepared for death. It was rather 'soft', even by her standards, but she slightly angled her head to the side to bare her neck to him while closing her eyes. Kin's posture was noticeably tensed and it was even more so when she felt his hand rested on her shoulder, closest to where her carotid veins were easily exposed. Her breathing and her pulse quickened and hoped for it to be quick and painless, however, she received no such thing. In fact, she started to believe that he was drawing it out on purpose, just to further her-

"Kin. Open your eyes."

Hesitantly, she peeked an eye open and then the other, hoping that she wasn't to witness some horror, or her demise. No such thing happened, and she couldn't read anything from his bored-looking expression. "Hmm?"

"I'm not going to kill you."

"…" It took several seconds for that to sink in, and then a minute or two to comprehend that he was serious. "…Huh?"

The clones to his sides that looked like him stepped away; the one that looked like him promptly left the store but the one that was henged to look like her left around thirty seconds later, stealing after the first one but not too obviously. The significance of this was lost on her but there was no room to dwell on the happening as Naruto clasped her hand and began to lead her away. It was only because of her attempts at keeping a docile nature why she permitted this, an aspect that would benefit her.

Sort of.

Naruto led her by the hand and while he did so, she noticed that the general area was washing out around them-…washing out as in everyone and everything was gradually bleaching of all colour. In fact, she was about to yell in alarm, had not Naruto warned her to be quiet.

"Shush. Don't make any outbursts." He hissed.

"Wha…? What the he-"

"Shh…" This one hinted something of a threat and she obliged, falling silent. Instead, she could only gawk in befuddlement as the volume faded out of existence as well; the world could be described as a colorless comic she had once seen when she was on the farm with Shiarta. It was one of his she believed, and frankly, even this was getting to be far too eerie.

"It's not them, you know." Naruto spoke softly as he led them to the back of the store, doing his best to tread quietly. "It's **us**."

"Us?" She parroted dumbly. "Waddya mean, us?"

"Kabuto can still hear you here, if you talk loud enough. We need to go out through the back." Naruto cautioned as they approached the store's back exit that was for employees. During her observation of everything else, she hadn't even realized that he had basically led them around everyone out of sight and it was especially easier, with lackadaisical employees at the back of the store and the fact that they were practically at the back to begin with. The lingerie aisle was their starting point. That particular point needed some looking into, as to his presence of being in that aisle before even her to begin with..

Just then, she rediscovered herself and started to struggle. "Us? No! I'm-"

He started to run towards the back-door and at the arrival, ran right through it.

Literally, right _through_ the _closed_ door as if he were a nothing but a ghost.

She was about to scream in horror/trepidation when his grip on her hand tightened and she was pulled through as well after him. It wasn't a feeling, but more of a sensation of going through a waterfall. Shock ran through her in a buzz and…and…and…

It was over as soon as it began, but all that lay beyond the door was black. Completely, well and truly, **black.**

 **Nothing, in a plane of non-existence.**

Here, she did scream, but it came out as dead silence. It was all so…QUIET that she thought that she would lose her mind. Well she did, in a way but she regained it when she looked back down at herself. When she realized that she was losing color as the boy ahead of her still holding her hand, Naruto was once again pulling along a raving lunatic of a kunoichi and ignored her attempts to struggle out of her gasp, as well as buffet him to get him to let go of her.

'Not too long now,' he mouthed the words and finally plopped himself down on…well, whatever they were walking on. They had been walking on black, and sat on black, beneath black, everywhere, everything black in this hellish realm of-

"Nonexistence," Naruto said aloud and as soon as he did, it was as if the sound in general was un-muted. As soon as his volume had had re-emerged, so had the sounds of her screaming.

…

…

…

Time passed in a queer way. Naruto had judged it to be five hours, but in 'reality', it had been years. She had long ago regained her sanity and her memory, but she sat a far distance away from him. There was nothing between them, and yet…

It was too confusing to think about.

"You can sit beside me, you know."

"…"

"I don't bite."

"…"

He lay off for a bit, wondering how messed up his fore-experience was before he woke up to foresee this day. It was muddled in this day, sure, but it hadn't even been an hour in the experience before she…oh, she was doing it now.

Kin walked over to Naruto and sat beside him very hesitantly, apprehension rolling off of her in waves. They both were in a lotus-style position and to break the ice, Naruto very slowly removed an apple from his bag and gave it to her. She registered the act and Naruto nearly flinched when the apple was gone from his hand. What was left there though, nearly felt like pain from how sudden the fruit was swiped.

A few crunches later…

"How'd you know?" Kin asked sternly.

"Know what?" He asked back, feigning ignorance.

"That apples were my favorite."

"You told me. That's how I know."

"I never told you," the flabbergasted Oto kunoichi argued. "You don't know anything about me! Besides-"

"You're the one spying on me and not the other way around?" The Uzumaki finished her sentence from his point-of-view with a smirk, knowing he had taken the words right from her mouth. It was good to know that the fore-experience wasn't incorrect.

"How'd you know-"

"What you were going to say?"

"Would you just let me-"

"Finish a god-damned sentence?"

She looked as if she would've enjoyed hitting him over the head but thought better of it, deciding to just stay silent and put. There was so much that she needed to grasp; nevertheless, it remained out of her grasp. To make a short recap, she was ordered to follow him, gather intelligence on him and such. However, all of that turned into a clusterfuck of sorts when she tried to find him in a clothing store but instead it was he who found her. Then everyone turned into 'pale spirits', then _they_ turned into the same thing and went through a tangible object to the outside where nothing existed. In fact, she pondered whether or not she was really sitting presently. It felt as if she was on somewhere solid, but for all she knew she could have been floating in mid-air.

Maybe it was just a nightmare.

She HOPED it was just a nightmare. She had been insane for Kami knew-how-long before she grew bored of that and decided that she might as well take a seat beside the guy who had threatened to end her on multiple occasions and likely responsible for their current state.

She felt like throttling him for answers but she knew she was badly outclassed by him, most likely. If anything and she was unexpectedly successful and killed him, all she would be stuck with was a corpse who wore clothing that almost blended in with the…black they were in.

'Hmm…' "How do you know-"

"What you're going to say?" He finished.

She raised her eyebrow, trying to think of a way around the complications. "Kin-" She began.

"Tsuchi," he finished her name for her, although she had never'told' him.

Feeling badly perturbed, she decided to press on. She was starting to entertain all sorts of crazy ideas in her head and strangely, they all felt apt and likely.

One, she was in a high level genjutsu.

Two, he could read minds.

Three, he knew the future, in some bizarre way.

She continued to stare at him, trying to figure out the blond. 'Huh. What's this guy's business with me? If anything, he looks kinda eager for a chat. Maybe I could actually get him to tell me info about-'

"Don't ask me what my team or I am capable of," he said suddenly, startling her out of her thought-line. "Don't you think you have other things to be concerned about?" He waved around in a horizontal manner, gesturing to the space around them. "Look around. Whatever the current situation is, finding out what I can or cannot do shouldn't be first on your list."

"…" She actually felt like weeping in frustration but it came out as a groan. "Are you reading my-"

"Mind? No, I cannot read minds."

That was easier than she thought. Well, he could be lying, but he didn't seem the type. Kin had no idea how she had that notion, but it felt…right. "Genjutsu?"

"No. We're in a place of no space. The only thing that actually exists here is time, but it's horribly warped."

Her silence continued for a while as she tried to gather herself. "I'm…in a place that does not exist."

"Hai," he answered simply.

"What the-!"

"Language." He stated with a warning undertone, cutting her off.

"Graahh!" She slapped her hands against her temples and very nearly tore her hair in frustration. "Why me?! I never asked for this!"

The Uzumaki looked sorrowful as he gazed at the kunoichi who began to rant and that she did, all over the place for the next hour. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?!" Her head swiveled to him crazily. "Did you cause this?"

"Kinda," he admitted.

Pondering what he said earlier, she recalled that all that existed here was time.

Time…

Time…

How he expected her…

How he knew what to do…

How he knew what she was going to say…

"You can-" She began with a gasp.

"Yes, Kin," he answered with something of a smile. "Now that that's out of the way, take a seat."

Tsuchi threw up her hands in her dilemma, trying to suppress a scoff. "Do you think that we're supposed to just get amicable after you told me that you're responsible for this whole mess?!" She waved her hands in explosive arcs to indicate the 'area' they were in. "Furthermore, we have no ties together. You've probably been spying on me as you know that I have on you. We're far from friends; hell, we're enemies from different villages. Why ME?!"

Naruto sighed as he stood up and stretched. Upon doing this, he walked briskly over to her and bowed his head at the shoulders. "I'm sorry." He raised his head and stared her in her bonny orbs. "You didn't have to be here. Rather, you were actually the lesser of two evils I was forced to pick. My selfishness had a part to play, but-"

"Waddya mean, lesser of two evils?" She interjected.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. It was either you to be here, or Kabuto."

"Kabuto?" She suppressed a shudder as she recalled the medic. "How's he relevant? I was the one following you like a big, good-for-nothing-"

"Hey, hey," Naruto spoke in a consolatory voice. "You're being too hard on yourself. But to be blunt, Kabuto was in your shadow, kinda. He knew that I'd catch on to him if it were just him. Instead, with you bumbling around, he believed that whenever I felt a spike in paranoia or detected shifts in motion, I'd think that it's just you."

"That's…actually not hard to believe," she said finally. It made a lot of sense, to begin with, not to mention the fact that it would explain why Kabuto had insisted on her sticking to him. "How much do you know?"

"What is there to know?" Naruto asked. "Kabuto and you three Oto genin have an unhealthy interest in me and my team."

'Good. He doesn't seem to know about the invasion. But…he admitted to having knowledge of the future. He's bound to know about it before it happens.'

"You alright? You look like you just had-"

"Get us out of here," she interrupted. " **Now**."

"It doesn't work like that."

…

…

…

Kin stroked her forehead, trying to alleviate her growing stress levels. "You gaffed Kabuto by using your two clones to act like us and leave, while we entered this…hell-hole for reasons known only to you, just so you could-"

"You make excellent company." Naruto unsealed a book and tossed it to her. "So welcome to the longest day of your life."

"How long?"

"Doesn't matter," he responded gruffly. "But if you need specifics, it's been three weeks or so by the original standards. We have another one to go."

"A month?!" She boggled. "We missed the Chunin exams!"

"No we didn't." He returned to whatever he was doing in his large notepad with his pencil, making sure to keep it hidden from her. "No time's really passing here. Just don't try to figure it out."

Tsuchi felt the ache that had been welling up in her head recede as he instructed her not to think about it. "Ugh. What kind of book is this?" She thumbed through the book and a scowl marred her features. "This is some heavy shit." As she leafed through it, she could feel her Podunk countryside education getting out-spanned by their limits. While she could read to some extent, this book was like a dictionary.

"It'll keep you occupied. If you don't wanna read, sleep, talk, find something to do."

"Why don't you get us the fuck outta here sooner rather than later?"

"…Kin…you and I both know that you are not in control of this situation…Besides, you don't even like swearing."

She held off when she realized that she had no argument to something like that. "Fine."

"How come your hair's so long?"

"'Cause I never cut it," she answered bluntly. She really didn't feel like talking about this subject and without delay, tried to switch topics. "Hey future boy, what's the meaning of-"

"I don't know, a'right? I'm not omniscient." He continued scribbling away at/in what he was doing without even looking up to acknowledge her. The raven-haired kunoichi furrowed her eyebrows at this and tried to ignore it with a mild shake of the head. Going over the book one last time, she gave up before throwing the thing aside and decided to see whatever the hell he was doing.

She approached Naruto casually but as soon as she came within a foot of him, he moved away as well, hugging his work to his chest to hide it.

"What're you doing?"

"Something, obviously."

"Something, what?" She was bored out of her mind and was eager for any sort of distraction. She could see where he was coming from when he spoke about 'wanting company', but why the hell did she have to have the bad luck to be the one he chose? 'Of all the days to be me. Kami give me strength…'

…

…

…

"If we've been here for nearly a month, how come-"

"We don't need to eat, sleep or answer the calls to nature. Just don't try to figure it out." Naruto flexed the fingers on his right hand, faint white lights glowing around his hand. Instead, he remained focused on his work before him. "Now for your next question, I think milquetoast means 'an unassertive person.'"

…

…

…

"No, I can't just tell you the future willy-nilly. I'd shiver to think what you'd do with that information."

Kin sighed. "How much longer?"

"Lost track a 'few days' ago." He mumbled apologetically. By now, his entire body glowed white and he had refrained from answering any questions from his companion about it. He knew what was happening.

He knew.

He had had a Kekkei Genkai after all. This was proven that his abilities had heightened. Not his knowledge of the future, but he could feel the grasping of what he knew about the abilities themselves feed directly into his mind. He knew what they were of, and he was actually learning how to use them. Although the latter was actually a very slow progress. But in spite of that, the Kekkei Genkai accelerator was a resounding success. Well, he was going to die thirty years younger, but who really gave a damn? Not him.

"Why me?" Kin asked demurely. Somehow along this wretched and horribly _dark_ experience, she had been humbled somewhat, or she had just lost a lot of bite against her companion. While it was most likely the latter, Kin wondered what would happen after this was done. Would he kill her? She now knew his 'secret', although he had told her. He knew, or was bound to know who her bosses were and what their intentions were of, and she'd be landfill. So although she was hating the situation, she hated thinking about her fate once it was zeroed. It was like a man imprisoned, but he knew that murderous people who had a bone to pick with him were waiting for the day he got out.

"Why you?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"Yeah. Why me? I'm not a friend of yours. Why didn't you just ask a friend of yours to stick this out with you instead of me? I'm no comrade of yours. I'm not even of your village. I'm an enemy."

"You're no friend, sure," the glowing boy agreed. "But you're not an enemy. You're basically in a neutral zone." 'Besides, you kinda reminded me of someone…' Naruto eyed her over once to think of the similarities again before his eyes dropped. "I'm given a specific set of instructions, you could say. But what's given me is a choice between Kabuto-"

"Or me," she interrupted for once. "But you fought and beat Zabuza. I'm sure that you could fight Kabuto if you wanted, instead of dragging me into this."

"I don't ask questions anymore." Naruto stated firmly. "I don't second-guess instructions. I paid far too much last time, and I refuse to-" He suddenly caught to what he was saying when he saw her confused look. "Never mind. Look, I know I said I was sorry and all, but I didn't apologize for…well, threatening to kill you. It's a waste of young life, y'know? I really wasn't going to. Although I **am** blooded ." He affirmed the last, letting her know that he was not above killing. "Keep your mouth shut about this, and you keep your life."

"Meh, whatever. I kinda figured," she replied nonchalantly. "What going to happen when this thing is over and done with?"

"You get to do whatever you want to do. You haven't lost anything. All you're doing right now is experiencing something extra. It'll be like no time had passed in the 'real world'."

"If you say so…" She tossed the book to him. "I'm done. What else have you got?"

"That's it," he uttered with mild regret. "But if you want to pass the time, you could always keep talking. It makes me feel good not to know that I'm all alone here."

Kin absentmindedly rolled her eyes. "Glad I'm useful for something."

…

…

…

He no longer glowed. He was fully radiant, and Kin could no longer look at him without half-shielding her eyes. It got on her nerves, but somehow, she got the feeling that she had stumbled on some sort of metamorphosis of his, and suffice to say, she was awed. In a world of utter pitch black, he was like a pure white beacon, save for the black and grey flashes around him every now and then.

Seriously, after running out of extremely limited small-talk topics, how could she not want to talk about wherever they were in, or whatever he might be becoming.

But he wouldn't say another word about that.

…

…

…

Finally something new began to happen. The darker flashes and glows that had increasing in frequency and vividness had finally taken over his body. The right side of his body was completely white, but the left side was completely black; so much so that it blended in with the darkness of the area they were in. **That** in particular was as black as new moon at midnight in the bottom of a coal mineshaft. However, between those adverse regions, his head and the middle alignment of his chest and gut right down to his groin was a perfect gray…

Kin decided to just try and ignore it. He wasn't going to talk about it (that was still understandable; after all, she was to be spying on him and she already knew enough to put her future in jeopardy.) and she had run out of things to do to occupy her attention. But as she slept, however, an alternating pair of white and black eyes watched her, the mind behind them thinking of what the future held for both himself and the Oto kunoichi. After a few moments longer, he went back to his notepad.

 **=X=X=**

Inky orbs opened and were nearly blinded as a bright light glared into them. Groggily raising a hand to her face to shield them by peering through the cracks, she instantly felt he fatigue ebb away as she sat up from lying on her side, taking in her surroundings.

"Wha? Naruto? Where are we?"

No answer.

"Naruto?" Kin looked around, taking in the immediate settings. She was no longer in the pitch black realm of just 'time', as Naruto had put it. She'd never understand that, but what she was calling to mind was that she could hear the hustle and bustle of the village. Judging from the yells here and there, in the distance, she could reason that it was the very day that she had departed from. The back-exit of the store was behind her, and she was…apparently lying on some clothes like a makeshift blanket. The area where she was in was deserted.

Everything was normal.

"He's gone…" She stood up now and began to smooth out her clothing. As she did so, she took note of a piece of paper in her other hand for the first time; a folded one. Looking at it, she saw that it was addressed to her: 'Kin Tsuchi'.

With barely any preparation in case this went south, she unfolded it all at once and straightened the pressed lines. After a full minute of staring, she finally recognized it for what it really was.

Her scrutiny soon became one of admiration of the sketch of herself. There were three different sketches of her, in fact, all of her in different poises during the ordeal. Standing with her weight centered on one leg, another of her reclining while propping her head up one arm, and the last which was of her sleeping just now.

Even if it were of herself, she never would have thought of herself as pretty. Not narcissistic, mind you, but her first glance of the sketch bore the thought 'wow, she's pretty'. And then she realized that it was actually her. If Naruto wasn't talented at any one thing, then he was certainly gifted at sketching. The only thing that wasn't perfectly accurate was a graced smile on her lips in all three poises.

She…didn't mind.

At the very bottom of the sketch, written in the right-corner:

" _Thanks for your time!"_

 _-Naruto._

Kin carefully folded the sketch, placed it in a secure place within which to carry it on her person and ambled off with a small smile on her face.

 **Well, that's it folks! Sorry it took so long, I have a new course to deal with. But I promise you this, this story will never be abandoned. I have this…** _ **drive**_ **to type, you don't have anything to worry about.**

 **Now…**

 **This chapter was weird, but it's nothing you can't ignore. I hinted that his gifts were inherited through genealogy last chapter and since this story advances the quickest out of all of all my fics, this fic is the most likely to end the soonest. Therefore, I'm unlocking all of his (soon-to-be-seen) Kekkei Genkai almost all at once, which is why I introduced the idea of a K.G. Accelerator, an idea that I can assure you was bashed and left the story abandoned by quite a few readers. (If you're reading this note, it means that you followed the story with an open mind. Thanks!) The ideas did originally belong to a fic that's supposed to be lengthy, after all. It was necessary, and it will pay off. Also, while the latest abilities may not be as unique by my usual standards, it's still an original way of going about it, so, ORIGINALITY IS STILL MINE!**

 **The relationship is mostly geared to friendship at present, so it's not romance. Yes, Kin was OOC quite a bit in this chapter, but I think I pulled it off right. Don't forget to review if you found something to comment on.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Living Twice**

 **Don't lynch me! I know that I haven't updated like I used to (I'm a whole lot busier than I used to be, what with new courses and all) but I'll never abandon a story! I don't give up when it comes to any form of literature. Besides, I come across far too many abandoned fics and I'm not wishing that on any of you. You might think that I might say it and do another thing, but I won't. I vowed to see this pairing through to the end. Rare pairings shall not die!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. However, I own a lot of ideas, rehashed ideas that you may have seen before and present ideals in my fics in a world that has become too angst.**

 **Now then…time to turn up the volume for those Rock Playlists of mine and start typing. Enjoy, everyone.**

 **16.**

The day had finally arrived. Naruto didn't know about the others, but he had spent **months-years** on Saturday, waiting for this moment. Naturally, he didn't have the time to 'slow-walk dramatically' with his team as they approached the institution that would house them for the first phase of the Chunin Exams. Well, **he** knew, but his team had yet to know.

Naruto could feel it. Time was an idea, an abstract thing…to everyone else. It wasn't as if he could hold it as if it was a tangible thing, but rather, he could actually feel it. Time was like some sort of person behind a camera, telling everyone to get in line and look their best for a photo opportunity. The end photo showed all who were in the picture, excepting the person controlling everything.

Naruto couldn't see time. He couldn't hear it, or feel it. However, he could sense its influence on everything around him with a better perception. It was creepy at first, but he had gotten used to it. After all, he had to deal with it for the rest of his life; might as well hurry up and get that out of the way, huh?

He mentally checked his seals. All of them were on his person, all in the areas were he believed he would need them, not to mention in places that could maximize his quickdraw. He then took inventory by recalling their contents and grinned to himself. 'The exams will be interesting.'

He zoned out the quiet conversation between Sakura and Sasuke as he called to mind the people that had made his life 'interesting' of late…around one week before exams to be precise. Running around, pranking, virtually kidnapping and threatening Oto ninjas. His mind fixed upon one in particular. He was pleased to have made her acquaintance.

"She reminds me of…Haku," he mumbled. "Foreign kunoichi I could have fought, but instead, became friends with."

"Hmm? Did you say something, Naruto?" Sakura looked to the blond and asked, mid-conversation with Sasuke. She'd come far from what was previously an out-of-proportion crush.

"Just talking to myself. Oh, and…" Naruto looked around. "Make sure that at all times, that you're at a hundred percent."

"I'm not missing anything," she answered. "What do you mean?"

"You two should check yourselves every now and again. Not to make sure that you're not missing anything, but to make sure you're not carrying anything _extra_."

Sasuke grunted. "I see. Other people in the exam might want to slip things unto us."

"Exactly." He looked straight ahead, gazing intently at the road before him. "Sakura, Sasuke?"

"Hmm?" This came from Sakura, but the Uchiha merely glanced at his fellow male squad mate.

"How do you see me? What kind of light do you see me in?" He asked, as if unsure of the answer. In fact, he really didn't know the answer. He had had free reign during his traversal to the area where the exams took place. Nothing happened on this trip, but he had to know. He **wanted** to know.

"Um…I don't understand."

"Describe me using five words." Naruto replied shortly. "Be honest."

"Where did this come from?" The Uchiha queried. "What brought this on?"

"That's it? I'm indescribable?" The Uzumaki's tone indicated that he was nearly upset. "After so long, you can't describe me using five words? Am I just a place holder for this team to make sure that the squad is full?!"

"Calm down, Naruto. I'll try. If you can oblige the same to me, that is," Sakura piped up with a smirk. "Truthful, brutal, honest, eccentric and idealistic."

"Really?" Naruto was pleasantly surprised to hear the last. "Idealistic?"

"Yeah. Back in Wave. You were like 'go team go' in your own twisted way the whole time. Always hoping for better."

He was pleased to hear such an analysis, but he wanted to hear Sasuke's description of him. On that, of course, Sasuke took a while. But after that, all he came up with was:

"Emotional. Strong. Original. Mature. Uncanny. "

"?" The Uzumaki had to check his hearing. "Huh. I hear compliments in that. Maybe I'm going mental. Or rather, it's you who's gone mental. Now for me. Personally Sasuke, I think you're collected, ambition issues," he said this carefully, lest he offend. "A damned good ninja for one who spent the least time in the academy, issues pertaining to the opposite sex," he uttered, hinting to his teammate's fangirls. "And needs to take it easy on the whole emo crap."

"Me?" The onyx eyed youth couldn't believe the portrayal. "Emo?"

"You're getting over it," Naruto mumbled. "Mostly because we treat you like a regular human being, despite others of the village who think you're the best thing since sliced bread."

"Hn."

"And he's back," Naruto sighed. "And now for Sakura. Oh boy, I'm at a loss for words." He saw that Sakura was about to speak up but he shushed her. "Not necessarily a good thing. You said that I was brutal and honest. Now, I'm going to be brutally honest." He reached into his pocket and took out a now worn looking picture of team seven the day after they were christened a squad. The next one he retrieved was a recent one of them leaning against each other after a long day of training. That one was taken by Kakashi at a reasonable time and distance. It was a brilliant photo op, one of them all leaning against each other as they sat on the ground.

"Do you see the difference?" Naruto asked Sakura. The pinkette looked and could see the differences, sure, but not the ones that Naruto wanted to hear. Not like 'clean' and 'dirty', or 'presentable' and 'filthy'. "Alright. I'll tell you. In the first one, you were bratty, loud, skinny, biased, in short…a _fangirl_."

She did not answer. Instead, she let him continue.

"In the second one, you've matured, settled, have some meat on your bones, fair, in short…a **kunoichi**."

And that face she made…that face that he saw her make…he was sure. He was sure he couldn't be any prouder of her. "You've come a long way. You don't fawn over him anymore. You treat him more like a good friend, and he you. You're not quick to judge people, comparing them to him. You don't complain over training, bash the very idea of eating, or being afraid to get your hands dirty. You've advanced yourself! I mean **look** at us! We're a team!" He gestured to the both of them as well as himself. "I know we all have our skeletons in our closets but who doesn't? Let's go to the exams and rip shit up!"

…

…

…

"Naruto?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"You seem to always be in the know about what's going on," she hazarded. "Any tips on-"

"-What to do?" He finished. After seeing her nod, he continued with a sigh. "For these kinds of exams, I'm sure that they'll try to separate us. They'll test our strengths, tenacity under pressure, mental agility, or just straight up make us fight one another. All I can say is that all we have to do is don't let anyone psyche us out, and grin and bear it."

"Alright."

"Hn. Fine."

Naruto scrutinized them once before he took hold of the knob and turned it, opening the door and allowing them to enter before himself. Almost immediately, the door slammed shut behind them, and there was no knob on their end. There was only a single door at the end of a long hallway.

"Well, let's go then," Sasuke muttered.

Following his lead, they all advanced to the door in a long walk. Upon reaching it, all the door said was ' **DO NOT ENTER** '. Naruto scoffed 'oh really?' sarcastically before opening the door. "Let's go inside."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked. "It's a rule, right?"

"Are you **unsure**?" Naruto asked back sagistically.

She was the first to enter after all.

 **=X=X=**

"I heard that they're changing a lot of things this year, besides the fights at the end." Kurenai gossiped to Asuma. "It's going to be really trying."

"Me too. I hope they'll be all right. We did send in rookies, after all."

"You sent rookies!" Gai yelled in a smug-sounding tone. "My genin are well-seasoned!"

"Well, what about you, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked the silent Hatake from where he sat reading a newspaper; apparently, it looked like the area that announced sweepstake winners.

"Me? Are you asking about my genin?"

"Yes."

"I don't have any genin," the man answered matter-of-factly. "I have a _team_. And that's going to trump all of your genin. And when the time comes, I'm sorry for any one of your genin meeting any of my students when fighting."

"Care for a wager?" Asuma asked with a smirk.

"Wager?" Kakashi was next to the man in an instant. "But of course…"

Had they known about the history of the members of Team 7 in Wave, Kakashi doubted that any of them would have anted up to bet. But they didn't, and it didn't matter if he had to bribe Naruto to find out the future of winning for him. This outcome was as good as set in granite anyway. "Not only will I bet on my team, I want another bet on which student will win the whole exams."

"Shikamaru," Asuma said instantly.

"Neji."

"Shino." Kurenai said hesitantly. "This isn't easy to answer, though. We have to take foreign ninja into account."

"Alright, for who goes the farthest and or wins."

"Let me guess… You're picking Sasuke?" The Sarutobi asked.

"Nope!" Kakashi answered with an eye-smile. "Naruto."

"…"

"…I guess you're losing this bet," the genjutsu mistress chortled.

"We'll see. Now then…money. I wanna see it out in the open."

 **=X=X=**

"Hey guys!" Sakura greeted. "Good to see you all."

"Looks like we're all here," Kiba responded with a feral looking smile. "All of us rookies, that is."

"One could only wonder what our senseis were thinking," Shikamaru said with a yawn. "Chunin exams for rookies? Tch, how troublesome…"

"…Hmm?" Sakura finally turned to acknowledge her yet-to-speak blonde friend. "Ino? It's been too long. How've you been?"

The Yamanaka could only silently stare at the pinkette. The clan heiress knew how Sakura looked… _thought_ she knew how she looked. The hair was there, certain facial features were there but the clothes…the confidence…the maturation…this was not the Sakura she knew, all dressed in reds and blacks, having gained some pounds in the _right_ places and showing marked muscle definition. But she was calling out to her. How was she to answer?

"Um…hey, Sakura," Ino replied lamely. "I'm fine," she added a shrug for good measure, trying to salvage what self-esteem she had left.

"That's good to hear."

"Hey, nii-san," Hinata greeted as she walked up with the members of team 8. "I haven't forgotten, you know." Her statement shocked all those who knew her (and her crush, or rather **previous** crush on the Uzumaki) and all eyes flitted from her to Naruto.

"I'm still unharmed." Naruto said testily. "Except for the time you repainted my favorite bench brown."

The truth was, he knew that she was pranking him but he sat on the wet-paint bench anyway. If she had failed to keep trying to prank him, she might've lost confidence. But not enough for bragging rights, though, as it was nearly nightfall and not many people could get a glimpse of him then anyway.

"Still worked," the Hyuuga boasted.

"The score is four to one. You don't have much to brag about."

"Whoa, whoa, what the hell is going on?" Kiba half-yelled, now infuriated. "Since…what _is_ this?"

"He's not aware, imouto," Naruto said in a hinting tone. "Didn't you tell him?"

"He didn't ask. So I said nothing."

There was a bit of bout there and then between Hinata and Kiba, and while that took place, Naruto looked in the area where he had afore known where to look.

And there she was, standing next to her teammates. But what was with the pose? He supposed it was an anime sort of thing; he did see it on television once. Heh heh, cool.

'Did I just think that?' He glanced away before she became paranoid enough to notice his stare. 'Must be a blue moon this week or something. 'I probably shouldn't try to get her attention. I still gotta follow the rules of the fore-experience…even if it means that I have to put up with… **Kabuto**.' He thought the name as in the manner that he'd spit on the person and to _think_ of the devil, the selfsame person showed up.

"Hey, you nine. You might want to take it down a notch," a newcomer in a mystery shade of purple/magenta came on scene, marked as one of their village with a leaf hitai ate. He had silver hair, and wore spectacles. "You're attracting unwanted attention to yourselves."

"Doesn't that take off the attention off of _yourself_?" Naruto asked back pointedly, hinting to the undercover med Nin that he was aware of his practices, **if** he caught the hint in the first place. "And who are you to tell us what to do, anyway?" He ignored the glares from other contestants for chunin status, although certain others of the nine were.

"I'm Kabuto," the newcomer answered. "I'm a bit of a veteran genin. Took the exam seven times."

"Are the exams that hard? Or is it that you just suck?" Naruto taunted. Elsewhere, the Uzumaki could've sworn he might've heard Kin giggle just once, and shushed herself. He mentally patted himself on the back from eliciting mirth from her, even it if was just for an instant.

"They're that hard, besides, seven is supposed to be lucky. Perhaps this'll be the time I finally catch a break," Kabuto said sheepishly, but a rather harsh looking lens glare developed in his glasses. 'Damn you, Uzumaki. You just enjoy making my job difficult, don't you? Especially after actually tricking me with doppelgangers of you and Kin. Even Kin, who told a story of how she got knocked out. Although I don't _**believe**_ her. She could be compromised...she needs culling, if that's the case.'

"So, thank you for trying to warn us. You may return to…wherever you came from, buddy." The Uzumaki continued to antagonize. 'This part was fun before, and still is.'

"I'm a fellow leaf Nin. I can help you guys out a little. With some information about the exams, of course. I've been around for a long time."

After some details here and there about the concept of his ninfo cards, Sasuke glanced around the room. "Hmm…I can't think of anyone to ask for. Uzumaki Naruto, then." **(1)**

"Why'd you ask about your own teammate?" Hinata asked. "Don't you know him well enough already?"

"That's the thing," Sasuke muttered. "I know so much, and yet so little about him. Besides," he smirked a bit. "If you tell me what I know already, the info is basically repetitive. If you can't tell me anything, then your info is useless."

Kabuto still heard the unspoken third rule. It wasn't said, but there was a third one. 'If I can tell him more than what he knows, then I'll be a dangerous factor and liability. Suspicion will fall on me, knowing a guy better than his own teammates. But…how much **does** Sasuke know? I can't say for certain.' "Alright." He channeled a bit of his chakra into the card he knew to be Naruto's. 'Hmm. I'll just go for stats, and the things his team must be aware of. Still better to be safe than sorry.' "Alright, Uzumaki Naruto. Says here that his teammates are you, and Haruno Sakura. Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi. For mission statistics, he's done thirty D rank missions, zero C ranks-"

Kiba chuckled at this, while Hinata and the others looked a bit thrown off. "All you guys have been doing are chores?"

"And one A rank," Kabuto finished. And that, marked the shutting up of Kiba. "And to let me finish…whoa." He pretended to look shocked.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, curious now.

"Says he singlehandedly killed Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the Hidden Mist, and his apprentice. He also assisted in the killing of Gato the Shipping Magnate, a user of the Swift Release. Although assist also goes to Kakashi and Sasuke who did the actual kill."

"Well…damn. Nothing new," the Uchiha muttered. "I guess it was just a repeat. A reminder at best, and I hate reminders."

"Are you kidding?!" Ino cried. "What the hell have you guys been eating?!"

"Well, this has only served to break what little motivation I may have had to do these exams," Shikamaru said. "Any other genin here have been killing elite jounin? I mean, single handedly killing him? How is that possible?"

"I just did everything right, that's all," Naruto defended. Elsewhere, Kin smiled to herself.

'It's just like him to act that way. If only…'

"Really now," Hinata mumbled. "And you still sat on brown paint?" She asked pointedly.

"I have my off days," Naruto defended. 'I did that on purpose! If only I could actually tell her that without wrecking the relationship we have.' He now turned to address the crowd of genins gathered, still petering out killing intent. "Anyway, to all of you eavesdropping, pisspot **cunts** , I'd call you all assholes, but those serve a purpose, like giving birth to likes of you. Cross me, and I'll rip your ugly goddamned heads off and shit down your throats. Those who get offended, are those it applies to." 'I hate when the experience tells me do things I don't like doing…'

Needless to say, everyone **did** feel like it was being applied to them. They were all about to collectively rip the Uzumaki a new one when there was a fairly large explosion of smoke, from whence came six higher-up ninja emerged. Five of them retreated to somewhere unseen, while the last (female) remained at the front to address all who were present.

"Welcome to the exams!" The pineapple headed woman yelled. "Or as I like to call it, your _epitaph_. What happens to you in the exams is going on your tombstone right below your name. Don't worry. It's least we could do. Wouldn't want you in an unmarked grave now, would we?" The woman said smugly. Obviously a kunoichi, she wore a fitted mesh body suit and a tan trench coat, along with an orange miniskirt. She also wore shin guards, but her snake-fang looking pendant went fairly unnoticed to the majority, who were merely studying her…assets, if they could get a glimpse, that is.

There was a brief moment of silence before there was a loud cough in which an insulting response was hidden; the problem was, it was easily interpreted to everyone as someone trying to cough 'corn alert'. The rookies recognized the perpetrator to be Naruto.

The woman decided to ignore it. "My name's Anko. I'll be your proctor for this stage of the exams!"

Naruto glanced about. They were in a **very** large, unfurnished room with no windows but had decent electrical lighting, capable of housing three hundred easily, allowing each person to have decent room. That was good, for there were around ninety teams here, including his. That detail passed into his mind easily, though. He expected that, and he would soon need to taunt the woman again as she droned in the background. He knew the rules already, but decided to rerun them in his mind as she spoke.

'This is an Espionage and Theft Test. For this one, there are twenty keys around this room; some are on people without them knowing, some are hidden with genjutsu, some are under rugs, although most of those are booby trapped. The last twenty-five keys are being slowly made by keygens, five each. The five keygens are the five machines are five different points in the room. One to each wall and one in the ceiling. Once one key is used, it can be cast aside, but the door at the far end won't register the key anymore. Each key can only be used once, and chunin are making sure that only one team passes through the exit behind her. At the most, only forty five teams will make it to the second stage… Some people will get killed of course, but only whole teams can leave."

"Also, some of you have keys planted on you without your knowledge. All of the keys have chakra running on them and they'll light up and reveal you to be a carrier!" The woman yelled at the genins gathered. "Now then, I wanna see some blood! Start killing each other!"

"Did you take your med pills this morning, lady?!" Naruto yelled uncharacteristically. "After taking the ones that are supposed cure you of whatever kinds of crazy you are, take the ones that make you _chill_ …" As he said it, he could hear gasps, and he mentally prepared himself for-…

A kunai flicked past his cheek and embedded itself in the ground behind him. Almost as soon as the event occurred, the woman appeared behind him via body flicker and holding a kunai to his throat. "Do you want to repeat that, young blood?" She whispered to him sensually. "It's the brats like you who die quickly, you know."

Naruto's eyes looked to the side to acknowledge his teammates before whispering only so the woman postured behind him and over his shoulder so only she could hear. "Oh really? Who's stronger? Is it you? Or is it I?"

"Me."

"I'll have you know that the pain you're feeling in your ass, is as a result of me kicking it several times before you had that knife at my throat," Naruto whispered with a smirk.

"…" Anko did feel it, and yes, it did feel like an asskicking. But when did he-…she decided to ignore that in favor of licking his cut cheek in an intimidating/unsettling manner after all, the asskicking issue could wait 'til later. But when she did, she only had one thing to say.

"Ketchup?" She hissed to the lad, confused. She was sure that she had cut him.

"Why yes. Also, I'd like to thank you for being a wonderful test subject. Please return to invigilating us." Naruto answered smugly.

She was tempted just to slit his throat right then and there for even saying the words 'test subject' around her, but she let it go. Instead, she shunshinned back to where she was before. "Alright, everyone! Begin!" **(2)**

Naruto grabbed his teammates by the shoulders. "Get ready guys. And…don't worry at all. Trust me." They turned to him with a questioning look but he only grinned "Have I ever steered you wrong before?"

Anko herself grinned, before heading to her own secret place to watch. "Light's out, maggots!"

And as so she stated, so it was done. Every light switched off instantly, leaving the door in total darkness. Almost everyone was caught off guard, and after five seconds in the dark, one could see all the keys glowing all over the place, including the keygen machines that the woman had described. That also meant people who were unknown carriers of keys, and that only served to remind everyone what they were supposed to be doing.

The room fell into chaos.

"Heh, look at that. Ino has one!" Kiba chortled. "C'mon guys! Let's get her key!"

"Whoa whoa, we're friends, guys!" Ino cried. She turned to where she figured Shikamaru to be. "Shikamaru!" She scream hissed. "We've gotta get to the exit!"

"Ino, we're in pitch darkness. I can't use my **kagemane** no jutsu, and you and Chouji can't even move around your own houses to sneak around at night. Just throw them the key. Besides, have you been _seeing_ what's been happening to the key carriers? You _can't_. You can hear them getting **murdered**. They haven't noticed you yet because we're at the back. Get rid of the key; we'll get another in the middle. Better yet, throw it in the center of the room."

"But- hey! Stop violating! Who's that?!" Ino shouted.

"It's Hinata." The voice said before removing the key from Ino's person. The key could be seen glowing in midair and it lit up a smiling Hinata with her byakugan activated. "Huh, this is weird."

"You said it," Naruto's voice said. She sharply turned to face its direction, but a bloodcurdling scream was heard, and Hinata shivered, seen by all of the rookie Nin.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"One of the key holders just got mobbed by **a** **lot** of kunais and senbon." Hinata announced.

The lights came on now for a full second, half-blinding all. "Sorry!" Anko's voice announced from her hidden corner. "I just wanted to see who got fuckin' axed! Don't forget that keys are all over the place! Let the carnage continue!"

And the lights switched off again. Hinata was one of the few who could see the people looking toward her and flung the key away at a trio of rain ninja. Almost immediately, one could hear their cries of pain and the sound of liquid dripping before the keys switched holders again.

"Let's head to a keygen! We'll remove all the keys except for the last and toss 'em to these contestants!" Naruto ordered to his team. "Sasuke? You're our eyes. Sakura, hold my wrist and **don't** let go. No matter what."

"Hai."

"Good. Sasuke, I'll follow you when you talk. Just keep saying 'seven' and I'll follow."

"Hn. Sounds like a halfway decent plan."

"I know, Sasuke, I know."

Elsewhere, Kin and her compatriots were fighting to get to one of the keygens in the corner closest to them. Suddenly, she had to shield her eyes as she was flashed by something bright. "Whoa! Did you guys see that?!"

"See what?" Zaku asked, confused. "I still can't see a thing, besides the keys lighting up and revealed carriers."

"Same goes for me," Dosu agreed. "Are you developing some sort of eye problem?"

"No!" She chose to ignore it, since it was only on her end it was situated from. It flashed on again, but his time, it stayed on. Looking to the source, she half-gasped. "Are you guys **sure** you're not seeing anything?"

"No. Just…keep trying to get to the objective."

Naruto felt paranoid in the dark for some reason. Someone was staring right at him in the perfect darkness, but he knew not how or why. But instead, he ignored the feeling for getting his team to the objective. Feeling the rush of power once more, he focused with all of his being to fuel the **zone** …one of his latest abilities at the right time, initiating it at the right time. He could still only keep it up for five seconds, but Sakura too was getting affected, but not as much since he was holding her hand.

A moment from his future rang in his mind, and he initated his ability again with a hissed whisper to himself, before swinging Sakura forwards to make her kick a genin hopeful in the jaw solidly with her heel. She was prepared to hit the target, sure, but if she only knew how much she was being augmented…

"Get to that keygen!"

They were all glowing, but they were heading to one that was almost completely ignored. It was the one farthest from the exit, and Sasuke was first to reach it. His sharingan enabled him to see the chakra of the keys and somewhat vague outlines of combatants since the room was so, so, so, ever-so-slightly lit by the glowing keys. But only to the point that the sharingan was useful, but no one else could see unless they were a Hyuuga. If you were one, it didn't matter; as a matter of fact, Sasuke was sure that Hinata and her team were gone already, right after another team that had a Hyuuga on it.

Once they got there, Sasuke and Sakura immediately tried to get the keygen to work to produce the key while Naruto stood guard…doing whatever the hell he was doing by the Uchiha's standards. He was just standing there, but for some reason, he was commanding an impressive and powerful presence.

If only he knew.

"How do you get this to work?"

Sakura felt the machine blindly. "Hmm…this part feels like it has the word 'ENTER' engraved into it. I'm pressing it." It was revealed to be a button, and a glowing key slid out from it on a tray. "I've got it guys!"

The first four keys they removed and tossed to the lot of genin contestants in the center, the teams there fighting each other like dogs for scraps until finally, the fifth key the keygen could produce emerged from it.

"Great. Now who's carrying the key?"

"Sakura is. I trust her to carry it," Naruto answered the Uchiha in an assuring tone.

"Really?" The Haruno asked sarcastically.

"Hai," Naruto answered. "Now trust me and Sasuke. Sasuke, hold her hand."

"Hm?"

"I said hold your teammates hand. Are you afraid of a woman's touch or something?"

A 'hn' came from the darkness before Sakura slightly squealed in a reserved measure of delight. Naruto sighed before he instructed Sasuke to hold his (Naruto) hand as well. This came even more hesitantly before the three started heading for the exit. It was a triangular formation; Sasuke in the middle in the lead, and Naruto and Sakura to the sides.

" **Vista Radial Zone**!" Naruto yelled.

…

'What the hell just happened?' Kin thought furiously as the previous phenomenon lit up again. 'Why is he lighting up like that? Is it that only I can see him? How is he…how are _they_ moving like that?'

She could see that team seven were moving quickly, but Naruto was getting breathless for next to no reason. 'He's doing something really exerting, and he's somehow causing them to move more quickly. I mean…look at how quickly they got to the exit! Speaking of exits…I'd better get my team over there, since we got our key too. Thanks Naruto. I guess whatever you just pulled from your ass just showed me where to get out of this deathtrap.'

To her right, she informed Zaku to where to aim his **Decapitating Airwaves**. After making short work of those in their way, they were soon at the exit and passing through it.

 **I'm going to end this chapter here.**

 **1- There was no drama about the wrong rooms or Sasuke getting his face kicked in. I made a personal rule not to bash any characters I write about, but I just couldn't find it in myself to reuse that scene from the anime and make it…bash friendly, I guess? So he never met the members of Team 10. Also, for good measure, no one of Team seven meets Konohamaru so they don't know about the Sabakus by extension. Call me lazy, but I'm calling it different. Sue me.**

 **2- I decided to cut Orichimaru from this part of the exams. I'm still trying to figure out where to put the guy, for Pete's sakes.**

 **Well, that's that! I hope you liked this chapter! Kudos to the internet for giving me this idea! I mean, how many of us decide that you wanted free software, but it needs a registration key? You gotta maneuver the dark murk of the internet to find the so-called 'genuine keys' offered for free, but may be used already. Or you can try to find your way around keygens. Oh boy, so many viruses. But that's not the issue here. I'm still trying to write a unique idea'd fanfic here. If you find someone else with this kind of idea, let me know so I can cry about it.**

 **I know that the wait is harsh. But think about it, it's harsher for me to have the ideas in my head, not having time to type it and not to mention I want to read it too! I mean, cut me some slack! Now then, if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to work on Breaking Limits. Have fun trying to figure out Naruto's latest abilities I hinted at here and there in the meantime.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Living Twice**

 **This chapter wasn't supposed to come out so soon, (not that I don't consider you, but other fics need updates too) but since ideas on how to start it was fresh in my mind, I was like 'meh, might as well'.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **17.**

As soon as she saw that everyone who could stand, limp or crawl make it through the door with their keys, Anko instructed her 'unfortunate' chunin detail to clean up the mess of a hall that the genins had made a mess of. Not that the genins weren't already a mess.

 **(1)** Of course they were. In the pitch black of the room, everyone was practically at each other's throats, except for a number of genins who knew that they should stick together to at least partially nullify the possibilities of friendly attacks. Genin in the middle of the room with keys weren't so lucky though, as they were the first to get their necks on the chopping block. As soon as the lights were out, they glowed in the dark like a firefly. Before they could figure out where the keys were on their person, they were…slaughtered. Such a word was apt for some of the carcasses found.

Just because these were genins-to-chunins didn't mean that bunch of weapons from a lot of them at the same time didn't riddle bodies.

This test was to teach them to have extreme reaction times to bleak situations, the secrecy of espionage in dark places and such. Theft was…well, the test wasn't actually meant to be so lethal, but the 'crazy' woman had implied it when she claimed that she wanted to see some 'blood'. If Ibiki had been there, he would have removed all of their sharp weaponry. But he was out on mission, leaving Anko alone to oversee both the first and second portion of the Chunin exams. This might go over badly, as she had forgotten to hand out the waivers. Oh well, such was life.

Said Mitarashi absently rubbed her ass, thoroughly feeling that she had indeed gotten kicked there. But as much as she tried to ignore it, it wouldn't go away. Not the pain, that is, but the very idea that she had gotten her ass literally kicked. By a genin, no less.

"Aw, fuck. What kind of kid is this?" She muttered to herself. "First my ass gets kicked, then he calls me a fucking test subject. Why, the **nerve**!"

A few minutes later, she had somewhat forgiven the issue of him calling her as such, for he was ignorant of her history of actually being the very same to a traitorous sannin. But the question still remained and begged to be answered.

'How on earth did he do that? How can a _genin_ do that?! He acted like a cheeky brat, then I threw a kunai to intimidate his ass and it cuts him…or at least I think it cut him. Then I shunshin behind him and put a kunai at his throat. I need to figure this out.'

"You see, Kurenai?" Anko heard a voice catcall. "Your team was the first to leave, but mine's still the best. My team was the first to make it to a keygen, not have to fight anyone, actually spending time to remove keys and throwing them to other contestants so that their attention would rest on the middle, rather than they themselves escaping without even a scratch. Not abilities, but smarts."

"We'll see," a woman's voice answered.

"But of course, Hinata could see in the dark. She had an advantage."

"But we all saw Sasuke activate his sharingan."

Anko could hear all of this behind a closed door next to her and she couldn't help but wonder 'how come these people could see that? I was in the room itself, and it was just me. I didn't even see Uchiha activate his sharingan. Hmm…' She knocked the door and entered. "Hey."

The occupants of the room were recognized to be jounin teachers watching CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) but it was on tape as they kept replaying a bit over and over. She saw that they were only the teachers of teams 7,8,9 and 10 and that raised a bit of an issue. They all greeted her in their own way, but her eyes remained fixed on the TV in general. "You guys have been watching that portion of the test on tape?"

"Oh yeah!" Kakashi answered with an eye-smile. We even saw you chakra-clinging on a wall, close to the ceiling. Night-vision was enabled, you know. We saw everything. Even your little…episode with my student before the test started…" He said the last in a suggestive tone, even to the point where he wagged his visible eyebrow. "You be careful now with the young blood!"

Anko threw the scarecrow such a look that was so deterring that it shut him up instantly. "Everyone except Kakashi, leave this second, or you're gonna get caught in my line of fire!"

That had Kurenai, Asuma and even Gai suddenly finding something better to do elsewhere, leaving Kakashi sweating nervously. "Sell-outs," he muttered.

In fact, he was prepared for a beat down but found his ass seated in chair and Anko in another next to him in front of the TV. "You know what, Kakashi? I think I'll let that one slide. You'll get to live."

"Huh?" Was his most sensible answer.

"Oh yeah, yeah," she waved it off. "But not necessarily in a state one might call **healthy**. You might get to stay that way if you can answer a few questions of mine." An inquisitive glance coupled with a cold stare got the job done, but only to a certain degree. The sound of the steel of a kunai leaving a leather case was apparent, and how many degrees did that get? All of them, apparently.

"What kind of questions?"

"Questions about…Naruto," she said the last with a sigh. "I'm racking up a massive headache just thinking about it. I take it that you saw what happened, but did you notice anything…unusual?"

"Other than you rubbing up on my student provocatively and the fact that you licked his cheek that you cut with a thrown kunai?" The Hatake deadpanned. "No, nothing at all."

She rewound the video of the scene and played it out normally. She did this a number of times trying to see if there was some phenomenon happening that could clue her in, but all she did was get on Kakashi's nerves. "What are you looking for?"

"Kakashi, to be frank, that student of yours mouthed off to me and I was trying to scare him. But right now, I think he's got me scared of **him**." He looked at her questioningly and she continued. "After he dissed me…"

"You had it coming. It was funny, though."

"Whatever. I threw the kunai and I'm positive that it cut him. Then I shunshinned behind him with another kunai and held it to his throat. Then I licked his cheek, but it was actually _ketchup_."

"That's…new," the man answered at last.

"That's not all. The guy claimed that he kicked my ass. And my ass feels like it literally got kicked **several** times. If he actually did something like that, then it happened sometime when I threw the kunai, and when I was holding the knife to his throat."

While Anko was explaining, Kakashi couldn't help but think that perhaps Naruto was manifesting new powers, and if so, then this exam was as good as done in their favor. But **what** had he done?

"Ketchup? Asskicking? Maybe you really should be taking your meds-"

"For the love of Kami-…don't make me beg. Just help me figure this out. Please." She sounded unnaturally sincere, but Kakashi knew how to keep a secret. But then again, this was Anko, for crying out loud. If anyone deserved a break, it was her. And she was having some tough times recently. Tough as in what one might call a 'localized recession for one person'. The village had her off almost as bad as Naruto, a cesspool of a background and history despite what she had done to redeem herself as a splendid kunoichi, pulling double duty for the exams that she didn't even want to do in the first place…

Yep, she was one of those unfortunate people who had far too much shit on their plates to sort through. She was completely baffled. He might as well help her; this way he could figure out what was up with Naruto, with her information. She could keep a secret and besides, even if he asked Naruto what was his latest biz, it would be like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Naruto was particularly stubborn about info about his mysterious abilities to know the future.

"Sure. I'll help you. This is kinda new to me too, but Naruto's unique. He's done a lot of firsts, if you ask me…"

"What kind of firsts?" The Mitarashi asked curiously.

"He's the first ninja to fight utilizing household items to fight with. Like vegetable oil and salt and pepper and such."

"Does that really work?" Anko asked, perplexed.

"It works for _him_ ," the man said carefully. "Makes his own weapons. I can't really explain those."

"Secret or you don't understand?"

"A bit of both, actually," the man admitted easily. "But the one thing is," he gestured to her to come closer so he could whisper. "He doesn't make any mistakes, unless they're intentional." He told half of the truth, but not how he could make such an achievement.

Anko pushed him away almost angrily. "That's a load of bull! If you don't make mistakes, that means you're perfect! There's no such thing!"

"He's killed Zabuza Momochi single handedly and cashed his bounty. He also killed the guy's apprentice, a skilled kunoichi who had the **Hyoton**. Separate fights, single handedly won without a scratch, but did both of them in with a mess."

As he spoke, her eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Holy shit!"

"So is it still a load of bull?"

"I…I'm a believer. But that doesn't explain what he did to ME. That guy…if only I couldn't make mistakes."

The Scarecrow could tell that she was bemoaning again and he couldn't blame her. "The first issue. You claimed that you felt that your ass was kicked."

"Yeah. It wasn't genjutsu or anything. It was all physical. But that's the strange part. I didn't feel anything for all until I had the knife at his throat."

"This video has a frame by frame feature. Let's take a look and see."

 **=X=X=**

"Let's count the teams-"

"Thirty," Naruto said while blinking disinterestedly. "Although ten of those teams have members who're hurt, both badly and mildly. Also, every one of us 'Rookie nine' made it.

At this point, Sakura didn't question or doubt him anymore. She didn't even bother to try and double check that, or try to investigate his source of information. She just accepted it as it is.

"Okay." Sakura kept glancing at the clock. "They say that the next test is tomorrow morning. Should we go home, or do we stay awhile to scope out the teams? See what they're capable of?"

"I'm willing to leave," Naruto remarked. "You two can stay if you want to."

"All right. Tomorrow, then," Sasuke muttered. Naruto acknowledged it as a social mannerism for departure, but it was more like some sort of reckoning, Sasuke consoling or high-talking to himself.

"Uh huh."

 **=X=X=**

'How was he glowing like that?!' Kin thought furiously to herself. 'And was it just me who could see it?! He was practically lighting up the whole room, without actually giving off a light to the surroundings, as crazy as it sounded.

'My teammates didn't see him. I'll just accept that I'm the only one who could see what he did. Although the kinda vibe that he gave off was different at times. Like light. Although one felt…white, and the other…black. What was he doing? Was it something time related? Like how I asked him if he knew the future. But if I can actually see what he's doing, does that mean that I'm special or something?'

They finished their trek through the hallways until they met the exit at the end of the passageway . Once they were there, they had to present their Identification and their key at a checkpoint set up for the purpose. They were then instructed that their next test was at seven the next morning; they were done for the day.

"So what? It's like noon right now. Why don't we just start the next phase now?" Zaku asked as a complaint.

"Don't be a baka," Dosu chastised. "Some people need to pull themselves together and recuperate. Not everyone had our kind of mettle."

"Heh," Zaku grinned widely. "I just blew 'em away! They didn't even have a chance. Man, ever since I got these implants, I feel like I could take on anybody and win!"

"Keep your voice down, idiot!" Kin muttered. "You wanna let the whole world know what your arms can do? No one saw in the exams, and you should keep it that way."

"Feh."

The sole kunoichi of the team felt a need to be alone. "I'll just see you two later at the hotel, 'kay? I'm gonna go get some food."

"Whatever."

…

…

…

She found herself wandering through the village. The excuse to leave because of a need for hunger was half-merited, but now as she walked, she felt like she was becoming ravenous. Problem was, she could smell two different things.

'I can't believe I have to make a choice. One way, I can smell apples…and the other way, that Ichiraku ramen thing. I…can't even decide.'

She didn't know how long she was standing there, up until a flash erupted in her vision for a fraction of a second. Well, it was like a flash-…all of her surroundings became grey for an instant frame. After it was gone, she found herself holding 'things' in both of her separate hands. In fact, she nearly dropped if she hadn't done a useful double-take.

In her left hand, an apple.

In her right hand, a small piece of paper that held the words 'Ichiraku' on it. It didn't take a genius to figure out who was responsible for this, nor did it take one to guess her next move.

'I guess I don't have to go buy an apple anymore. Only one place left to go.'

…

…

…

"Well, hey…you," Ayame stumbled, trying to remember a name. "Huh, I don't get your name the first time."

"My name's Kin."

"Oh. Well, _Kin,_ " Ayame said the last in a bit of a purposeful slur. "What would you like today?"

"Um…lemme get a Chicken ramen, please."

…

…

…

One large bowl minus contents later, Kin handed it back to the waitress and was about to just pay and leave when her eye caught the placemat on the table. The looks were off, and when she examined it, she realized that there was a sheet of paper invisible-taped to the white mat. In fact, it was a-

"Note?" She picked it up what was in fact a white sheet of paper taped over a note underneath. The first sheet of paper was to hide the second underneath, seeing as how the one with the message couldn't have been properly disguised with ink writing on it.

"Hmm…"

 _Kin,_

 _Yeah, it's me. No time (or space) for pleasantries. Your future looks bleak and to be frank, suspicious. But let me tell you this…you have two options:_

 _1) Tell me what's going on._

 _Or_

 _2) You'll get killed sooner rather than later, and I'll do nothing to stop it._

Kin gulped air at this, trying to breathe as easily as before but found that she could not. She knew that the blond had some sort of strange ability to predict the future, but a note like this felt…far-fetched.

And likely. That was what was scary. She continued reading.

 _The future is set in stone, but think of me as the person who's carving it. I can allow things to happen. I can disallow things to happen._

 _You're going to the hotel. Kabuto will be there, and he wants to know what I'm capable of. He's suspicious of you, and frankly, I have a right to be as well of the whole lot of you. Answer wisely._

 _I'm not threatening you. It's your choice on what to say. Believe me, I want to exercise blind faith in you. Don't let me lose it. Please._

 _Naruto._

Her breathing rate had calmed considerably, almost as if she was in full acceptance of what the message was conveying to her. But it didn't take her long to make up her mind, though. To continue to think about what she had to do would be suicide. Instead, she decided to take her time to think of what to say…what to say that would be enough to appease both sides. Her necessity to please Kabuto would be to please Orichimaru, which in turn wouldn't feel the need to discontinue her life. That was understandable.

What wasn't understandable, was her need to 'please' Naruto. She didn't know why she would. Perhaps it was because she gone on so long without a friend…if he actually were a friend. It had been so long since she had had a friend, but it was kinda complicated with the guy. For all of two weeks, it had been all kinds of crazy, what with death threats, guidance, vinegar in the eyes, more threats, even more threats, then she found herself in a lingerie aisle, then the whole fiasco in a place that didn't exist…

And now her head hurt…really bad.

She started to think about her experience in that place or whatever it was. To be honest, it wasn't as bad as one might think. Not the fact that she was stuck with someone who had threatened her or intimidated her quite a bit, mainly because he had apologized. It showed him to be sympathetic .The next part about going mental for an indefinite amount of time was tolerable as well. What was key, was that she was untouchable for the entire period. Orichimaru couldn't get his fangs into her, Kabuto couldn't get his scalpel into her, she didn't think about her past even once and she got to speak with a pretty interesting guy.

One she had fairly decent conversations with.

One that had her done up in a wonderful sketch, one that she admired the person it was of before she realized it was her.

A guy, apparently, who could see the future. Wow.

She snickered to herself, despite her situation. 'If only I had a gift like that. Man, I'd be invincible.' After thinking this, she paused:

'I guess that's how he's so strong. But he doesn't yet know what's going to happen to the village. There must be some kind of limit. Either way, he's not a guy to mess with. I bet that what he went through on Saturday was like some sort of evolution or something, 'cause he did something new _today_. He lit up in some kind of grey that was mostly black. I dunno. He lit up, he flashed, he was _shining_ for Kami's sake. But am I the only person who saw? Am I different too? Coincidence? Maybe that zone or place or whatever it was affected me too and I could see when he's doing something that's probably time related.' She looked up and saw the sky overcast. 'Maybe he could've told me that it would rain,' she thought bitterly.

She continued moving along now, seeing the hotel where she was staying come up in her view. 'Oh boy. I hope I don't make any mistakes. I really don't want to let a guy like Naruto down. He wants to exercise blind faith in me…I wonder why? Is he just that stupid or idealistic? Is there even a difference in a world like this? Why can't life be simple? I want it to be simple. I just want to be free to live my own life, is that so hard to ask for? Not having to suck up to someone just to keep my life.'

' _I'm not threatening you,'_ she could hear Naruto's voice say in her head. _'It's your choice on what to say. Believe me, I want to exercise blind faith in you. Don't let me lose it. Please.'_

She felt horrible, but wary at the same time. 'Is he saying it because he's afraid I'll tell his secrets, or is he genuinely pleading with me? Maybe some kind of history happened already with this sort of thing, and he doesn't want a repeat, 'cause I'm sure that if he was afraid I'll tell, he'd have killed me already. He told me that he's not above killing. 'Although it's a waste of young life,' he says. It's almost as if he's desperate to make a friend outside of the village. The guy's got problems.'

She made it to the hotel and let herself in and went up the stairs to her floor. 'Not to mention, if he does know the future, then he knows what I'll do…oh Kami.' She suddenly realized a bleak fact. 'He knows the future. He knew, or _knows_ what's going to happen today. I… he said that he can change things, just because he knows what will happen. I'm going to sell him out, and he's pleading with me not to actually go through with it. But if I actually do, he'll…he won't hold it against me.'

She actually had to choke back a harrowing sigh. The guy was completely idealistic. Even when he knew that she was about to do wrong, he had already known that she would, and in his own way, was forgiving her. That didn't mean that she wanted to just tell on him, however.

With that thought in mind, she arrived to the door of the room which she shared with her teammates and turned the knob, prepared for trouble.

…

"Hello, Kin," Kabuto welcomed the Oto kunoichi in a honey-glazed voice. "So nice of you to join us."

She cringed inwardly, knowing of the medic-nin's true character. Whenever he spoke like that to anyone back in the underground labs of Oto, things never went well. More than likely, the person's voice would sound the exact opposite in a matter of minutes…screaming gutturally, of course.

"Konnichi-wa, Kabuto-sama," she bowed at the waist, thoroughly prepared to figuratively kiss his ass to stay alive. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting."

"Not at all. Dosu and Zaku here have already briefed me on what their quarry was capable of. I'm sure that yours won't lack in info."

"I didn't learn much in the way of his combat capabilities," she spoke slowly. "I'm sure that you're already aware of his strange tendencies and habits."

"I am. And that… _intrigues_ me the most," Yakushi said in a tone not unlike Orichimaru's. No doubt, the rogue sannin was influencing the medic-nin in his undesirable fashions. He started to walk around Kin slowly and monologue'd as he did. The more and more he did, the more she tried to retract into herself in a sort of cowardice, expecting something awry. "He goes to bed at six p.m. everyday…wakes at six a.m. everyday…is condescending and sarcastic excessively, knows things that he shouldn't have any business knowing…" He stopped just behind her. "Feel free to jump in anytime."

She said nothing. So, he continued, circling her as if he was a carrion bird and she was nothing but a carcass. Knowing him, he might even already see her as such.

"He was being followed by you, trailed by you, espionage done by you and yet…is always aware of when you're watching."

'Oh yeah, well he's always known when you were watching him too, you sick bastard,' she thought back in her mind. However, she had the smarts to keep this thought to herself.

"And he spares you, despite you telling me that he was going to kill you. How strange. Knowing his history, he hasn't had any qualms killing. Do you think you're _special_ to him, Kin?" He intoned the word almost as a purr.

"N-no," she lied. She did think so, if she could see Naruto doing something unique only to him. At the very least, Kabuto accepted the lie, whether he believed it to be one or not.

"Hmm…" Kabuto looked as if he knew a secret. "Well. I know about Monday. You got vinegar in your eyes. Zaku here," Kabuto looked to the boy who suddenly started fidgeting, "got pepper and salt in his eyes, which I know is harsher. So tell me, Kin. Do you think he went harder on Zaku, or that he went easier on you?"

Kin knew the answer already, but she needed to beat around the bush a bit. "I don't think there's a difference. For all we know, he could have just used the pepper and salt as a next tier as a means to tell us that he despises being spied on."

"You're not answering the question. Do you think that he went harder on him, or easier on you?"

Shit. He must've seen right through her. It'd be best not to lie, currently. Just in case; he wasn't gaining worthwhile info at this particular juncture. "He went easier on me," she answered in all abandon.

"As I thought."

'This guy just loves being right, doesn't he?' Kin believed. 'If he knows a lot, if I tell him the truth and he was wrong, I'm in danger. If I'm wrong and he's right, I'm in trouble. I have to say exactly what he thinks or…I'm really going to die.' She really didn't used to mind whether she lived or not, that is, before Saturday, but now with a sincere and possible threat to her life, she was scared of dying. 'Does anyone actually care whether I die or not?' Her mouth went dry in nervousness as Yakushi continued.

"And now…About Saturday."

This was is. Everything was about to erupt into a shit-storm. This so-called weekend day was a turning point in her wretched life…and it was about to be her undoing. A flash of lightening lit up everywhere all at once; not too long after, thunder crashed and it felt like a death knell to her.

"You entered the clothing store after he did. A few minutes later, you both left."

She was praying to all the Gods she could think of that he was talking about the clones that went out the front door. "We did." She hurriedly rushed to amend her statement. "I was still trying to fulfill my duty of spying on him."

"Kin…I'm not talking about his clones."

Kin's face fell in horror. 'Oh no. Oh no, oh no, ohno, ohno-ohno, ohnoohnoohno…'

Kabuto started snickering in his own, self-assured way. "Strike one, Kin. So tell me, where did the two of you **really** go?"

Kin eyed her teammates. She was sure that she knew what was going through their heads. They were probably sympathizing with her in a small extent but to a major one, a failure of one made everyone else look better in comparison; namely, her failure made them look more useful. The more useful you were, the longer you lived. Simple logic.

"I…"

"Stuttering. Probably taking the time to make something up. That's a second black mark, Kin. Don't waste my leniency."

"I…I…" She frantically searched for an excuse, a lie, a reason not to say the truth. She **WANTED** to tell him the truth, but she couldn't help but think about that letter…that awful, pleading-bleeding letter.

And then she saw Kabuto shrug to himself before reaching into his holster and retrieving one of his hooked kunai. "I see."

"No!" Her eyes widened in fright. "I…he carried me off with him!"

Kabuto grabbed her right where the neck leveled off into the shoulder with his right hand and easily rested his kunai on her throat, squarely right over her larynx. "I'm tempted to just perform an impromptu Laryngectomy. Wouldn't you love to have one, Kin? I've heard that once done, you'll be so alleviated, you'll be at a loss for words."

She didn't dare struggle with the blade pressing into her throat. "He took me to a place that doesn't exist!" She scream-whispered.

"What was that? Speaking nonsense, are we?" She could feel the cold of the blade press even more into her throat, drawing blood and cutting off her air to some extent. "Do better than that, dear Kin."

"He…he can see the future!" She cried out in a hissing whisper in a desperate bid to save her own life, shocking all those present, including herself. "He can see the future!"

Kabuto was so taken aback that he released all hold on her. His mind, for the first time, went into a temporary shutdown as he tried to process what he just heard. "He can do...what?"

Kin didn't repeat what she said. Instead, she just let herself sag into the nearest chair as her legs betrayed her the right to stand, as much as she had Naruto. How...befitting.

Kabuto looked thoughtful for a second...then a minute...and then his face lit up in a broad smile; one that regaled tales of discovery, curiosity and…seeking opportunity. "Alright then. That is all."

And he so he left in a body flicker, leaving the team alone. In the aftermath, the male members of team Oto scrambled to Kin and helped her up. "You alright, Kin?"

She shook her head and felt her neck tentatively with two fingers where the blade had been pressed. It came away red, but she ignored it. It only bled, but she felt no real pain, unlike an emotional one. "I feel like I betrayed him."

"Were you ever on his side in the first place?" Zaku asked warily. "You can't betray what you didn't side with. Anyway, I can't fuckin' believe it. Can this guy really see the future?"

That wasn't the issue, and Kin told him so. "He wanted me to be friends with him. Was that such a bad thing?"

"Feh," Abumi nearly spat out the word. "What a fuckin' sap. He hasn't even known you for a month. A friend? We're ninjas, for Kami's sake. Quit acting like you've gone soft. You wanna let Orichimaru-sama get wind of this?"

She was tempted to say that it was for far longer than that, as what had occurred on Saturday was a timeline phenomenon. No matter how long it had been in there, the passage of time felt to be at **least** two weeks. That made a thirty-three days total; more than a month. But that didn't matter. All she could think about was how she had told his secret, something that only a select few knew. She had destroyed his confidence in her, and now, all the wrong people knew. Kabuto knew, and Orichimaru was soon to know too. For a simple thing as to be someone's friend, she practically sold him out. What a lousy person she was.

"Heh, if he can see the future, do you think he saw this coming? Why did he tell you then? He shouldn't have, if that's the case," Dosu spoke up, being a bit empathetic to her situation.

"Wait..." She realized something. 'How would he know that I'd tell?' She rushed to the window to the balcony and threw it open...

And there he was. It appeared that he was in the act of leaving by means of leaping away. "Naruto! Wait!"

Her words didn't deter, nor did they delay his actions. His powerful leap from the edge took him away from her, but she felt a hard-wired need/want to urgently tell him what ran through her head next. "I'm sorry! Did you hear?!" She yelled with all her might after the fleeting blond as rain began pour in icy sheets. "I'M SORRY!"

He didn't answer, or even stop to make an attempt at one. All she knew was that a another flash of lightning lent it's light to the landscapes once more for it's split-second tenure, and he was nowhere to be seen once it was gone.

 **1- To Illuminated's review. This is me taking into consideration the fact of friendly attacks on own teams.**

 **This was an okay-ish chapter. I kept everyone in a character of my own design, like Kin's half a friend to him and wants to further it despite her ties to Otogakure, Zaku like he was in canon, Dosu a bit more empathetic to Kin seeing as they came into service at the same time (there won't be a flashback for this, promise. I doubt I'll even do another, in fact) Kabuto is the same. In fact, I pulled off what could have been a looonnng scene and made it smaller. So yeah. The Oto genins know that Naruto's first secret ability is, and Kabuto knows. Orichimaru…hmm…**

 **I've got plans, but in slightly unrelated things, what do you guys think about a Kakashi and Anko pairing? I wasn't planning one, but I think it'd be great to cut her a break.**

 **Oh, and to everyone, happy one year anniversary since I started typing fics. I couldn't believe it; it's been great so far.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Living Twice**

 **I'm back. Damn, my internet has some issues currently, so I'm updating this elsewhere. Don't think that you could have gotten it earlier, though. A lack of it should provide fewer distractions when I'm doing this. Like the good ol' days. But I miss it! :(  
Besides, this was done since last Thursday. Go figure. Been sitting around for a week.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…and…meh, I guess that's it.**

 **18.**

"Oh, damn. We've been looking for it in the wrong place," Anko's eyes were wide, as was Kakashi's visible one. They stared at the television screen, hardly able to perceive what they were saying. Or rather, a lack of it, and a gain elsewhere.

"He's gone from his spot…" Kakashi finally got a hold of himself and closed his visible eye in contemplation. Anko continued staring for another minute before turning to her companion.

"Scarecrow, what the hell happened there?"

"You're asking the wrong person," he mumbled. "I don't understand that either. Do you know how hard it was to find what was wrong? And just look; if I hadn't seen-"

"Egh-hem," the pineapple-headed woman cleared her throat loudly.

"Fine. If _we_ hadn't seen what was different, we would never have realized."

That kid is…come to think of it, I don't know what the **hell** he is! I gotta know, though, I gotta know!"

"Is this need-to-know issue stemming from your work in Torture and Interrogations?" Kakashi joked. However, he nearly flinched when the woman turned on him and grasped his collar, her eyes wide.

"Don't fuck with me, Hatake! I can tell that you know something! Explain that!" She shoved his face closer to the screen so that he couldn't deny what he was seeing.

A frame of a video shows every half-second. A frame from second '1' would show 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, all in that order. But it was possible to show frames between those numbers if the frame was selected at a different point, like a frame from second 1.25 would show 1.75, 2.25, 2.75, 3.25, all in that order.

Kakashi and Anko had been at it for hours. It was as if Kami had pity on them to make them start the frame-by-frame feature on a specific time frame, that is, second 1.37, to finally show something a minute down the video.

"Naruto's not there in the frame in his spot," Kakashi answered calmly. "I can see that perfectly."

"Where is he, Kakashi?!" Anko exclaimed loudly, almost as if threatening him.

"He's behind you…with his foot kicking your ass…with the point of his shoe."

Anko swore like a sailor, determining that she was going to kill Naruto the next time she got her hands on him. It was here that the Hatake spoke up.

"I wouldn't go against him. Have you forgotten what I said? If for less than a quarter of a second he claims that he kicked your ass _several times_ , then what do you think he could do to you?"

"He won't see me coming. I'm not gonna let some punk genin make a fool of me, I don't care what he can do, how he does it or why-"

The door was opened here, and none should walk in but the Uzumaki. "Well, that's my cue to enter," he stated matter-of-factly, "Kakashi-sensei, Anko-san, we need to talk."

He just walked in on two jounin, one conspiring to kill him but he was completely lax on the issue, as if it wasn't important. So it came as no surprise that the Mitarashi leapt at her chance; that is, at the blond.

All Kakashi did was stare.

He just stared at the two of them.

Naruto had his blade-baton out in his right in the same space of time it took Anko to draw her knife in her left. It was a frighteningly short confrontation, one that began with the kunoichi lunge forward with her kunai, but he swiped down and turned with the baton portion of his weapon, diverting her ninja knife and her momentum to her left. Not quite satisfied, he thrust kicked her open left knee to knock her in a complete about turn so she had her back to him.

He then 'hugged' her across her front with only his right hand to pin her right hand, as well as grip her left hand in his palm. Without any preamble, he then leapt backwards unto his knees and she followed involuntarily unto her butt. They were now on the ground, one on knees and the other on her ass in a sort of spooning with Anko seated within his own legs and her arms pinned, and Naruto simply pressed the edged portion of his weapon on her neck.

Although amazed that he overpowered her so quickly, she snarled as her body began flying by instinct; she was about to reach for another kunai and ready herself for a kawarimi when Kakashi quit eyeballing the two.

"Alright, that's enough. I'm talking about **you** , Naruto."

He had expected the accusation from the man, but he had to let things play out this time…it was going to get touchy. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. Why did you come in here and start assaulting and nearly killing a fellow leaf Nin?"

"…" Naruto started chuckling. "Oh really? That's what you saw?"

"I may be wrong, given that I only have one eye to see everything with," Kakashi eye-smiled as well before it fell into a glare while he released killing intent. " **Let her go**."

"Or what? You're going to kill me faster than the blink of an eye? _A day, Fifteen seconds, black and white essence_ ," Naruto rhymed in sing-song, throwing off the two jounin. " _For this to be won, all I need is only one_ _ **.**_ "

"What the fuck?" Anko muttered, starting to think a psycho had her life in his hands, but not for long as she intended to get free. "Aw, fuck my life." She succeeded in her kawarimi with a chair and was released, now behind him.

Something strange happened then, and Kakashi saw the blond close his eyes and whispered.

" **Vista Radial Zone**."

Naruto blurred out of sight, almost fading like an afterimage. He then bleached back into existence, but when all was said and done, Kakashi found himself hugging Anko, and Naruto hugging them both at the sides. "There, there, you two. I'm sorry."

"…"

"What…the…fuck?" Anko whispered as she looked into her fellow companion's eyes. "How did we end up like this?"

The man had no response. He was still trying to figure it out himself.

Naruto let go, but the two jounin were still standing together, in a haphazard embrace. "You see. That's how I knew. Kaka-sensei has a soft spot for ya, you crazy lady!"

The two adults immediately let go and dress back away from each other, both slightly blushing. "Of course not! Damn gaki, just you wait until I get a hold of you, I'm gonna neuter you, then I'm gonna shove it so far up your ass, people are gonna ask how you managed to fuck yourself so deep-"

"A'right, a'right, geez." Naruto rolled his eyes. "I wasn't really planning to do what I just did. I just went with the flow. I'm sorry, okay? Damn."

"Huh?" 'Did he just say he was sorry?' Anko could hardly believe her ears. The words sounded so…foreign to her. Amount of times she was apologized to? Counting this one, she might just have the beginning to start making her way up to five apologies. "…Feh, apology accepted," she muttered while waving it off. "But only this once, gaki."

"As I was saying, I guess sensei's got a soft spot for you. I mean, you were threatening to kill me, started the confrontation and sensei is all like **I** started the whole thing. Shouldn't he have more credibility? You were prepared to lie for her?"

"Um…we jounin have to stick together…?" He trailed off. Anko got a hint about what was happening, but decided to ruminate on that later as Naruto continued.

"Whoa." He looked at the screen as he sat in a chair in front of it. "I see you got a frame of that. I have no idea how you got that. It must have been a fluke." 'Time's frozen at that point in th _Zone_. Maybe it's because it's a machine it was a one-time unexpected occurrence. If time stopped…hmm…I wonder how much they know. Or know **now**. Doesn't really matter. I'm not going to question my _fore_ - _experience_.'

"Gaki…" She came and sat in the chair next to him. "Mind explaining that?"

"Well, before we do that, we're going to all agree that we won't tell the Hokage-"

"Done!" She held out his hand to shake, but Kakashi held fast on that.

"No, no, no. We're not agreeing to that."

"Loyal as ever, that he is," Naruto muttered. "Well. I guess I can't tell any of you."

"Deal, deal!" She exclaimed. But Naruto wouldn't agree, and she turned on the Hatake. "Agree with him! Come on!"

"No." He said simply.

"Please!"

"Please~?!"

Anko pouted as cutely as she could, trying to use guile on the elite jounin. "~ _Please~?_ "

The silver-haired man tried to resist, but found himself failing as her eyes enlarged beyond reason to impossible sizes. The tried and true 'puppy dog eyes'.

And so, Kakashi relented. The notorious expression used to acquire permission had gone undefeated…all the times before, and always will be.

…

…

…

"I can control time," Naruto said easily, enough to take the two adults aback.

"Well, I think that's obvious," Kakashi deadpanned. "Does rain fall from the sky, too? What I want to know is, why would you tell us that so _easily_?"

Anko only stared incredulously at the two males. "Are you shittin' me? You believe him?"

"You don't?" Kakashi challenged back. "You've seen him."

" **Him** is still here," Naruto reminded. "And why I told her…I dunno. I was just supposed to. That's all."

"Wha-…?"

"Don't question it," the Hatake plopped himself into the chair and looked back at the screen of everyone doing what they were supposed to, doing what they usually did, Anko standing normally…with a foot kicking her ass. It was hilarious. "Looking at this, I just can't help but feel sorry for you, Anko."

Naruto shook his head and skipped to the next frame, practically obliterating the evidence. "Believe me, that frame landed on the specific one-hundredth of a second. That's me. I'm not fast, but I'm a guy of **many** talents."

"You two are bat-shit crazy!" Anko bit out. "I can't believe I'm entertaining this bullshit!"

Naruto sighed. "When someone's the very definition of crazy accuses me of being bat-shit crazy, it's a really cutting remark…and hypocritical. But I'm all dry for the day. No more essence…" He shook his head. "Anyway…" He trailed off as his tone got serious. "Experience told me to come to you two. I've told you one of my greatest secrets. Now tell me about someone named _Orichimaru_." **(1)**

 **=X=X=**

Kabuto had just come back from giving his report to Orichimaru. He had decided to volunteer all the information he had on team 7…excluding what could be the juiciest knowledge about a certain blond Uzumaki.

'Imagine…what I could do with just a gift if it's true. Orichimaru would be the one subservient to me. If Naruto is what Kin says he is, then all I need to do is pick up the pieces after Orichimaru takes after them tomorrow. He'll have some trouble with Naruto, to be sure, but he won't kill him. To do so, he'd risk the ire of the Akatsuki, who are already after him. To kill Naruto would only serve to make them pursue him all the more. Taking comfort in that knowledge, he'll thoroughly rip the team apart, sparing the two boys. He'll give Sasuke the curse mark, while I'll pursue my own prize.'

The Yakushi smirked to himself but it soon fell. 'But what of Kin? Will he kill Kin? Pursue her to kill her with a vengeance? Try to kill me? If he can kill Zabuza without a scratch, secure in the means of knowing the future, then I'm sure he can do the same to me…unless I stock up on soldier pills, and take comfort in medical Ninjutsu to put him down, and bolster my own strength. He's dangerous…but I'll be coiled like the snake…I'll strike when he least expects it.'

 **=X=X=**

It was five minutes before six when he asked, and he knew that this needed to be wrapped up as quickly as possible. "So? Anyone gonna answer?"

Anko looked like she would've liked to grab the blond by his ankles and shake him upside down until the blood rushed to his head, before stringing him up to skin him. "Where did you get his name?"

"Someone mentioned it."

"Who?" Kakashi was all ears, as was Anko, but the Uzumaki refused to comment.

"It doesn't matter. I was meant to come here and ask, and I want answers." Naruto was adamant. "So either you tell me, or I just start asking other people…people who might not be able to keep their mouths shut that a person like me has been asking a question like that."

Kakashi shared a look with Anko, but got the vibe that she didn't want to talk about it. Deciding to spare her the angst, he walked her out, but not before creating a clone to stay with Naruto. "Alright," the Hatake doppelganger said. "I'll tell you. But she's tied in way too deep emotionally. I couldn't allow her to stay."

"Fine." Naruto looked down. "I know someone like that too. I just hope…" He looked away, becoming despondent, "…that she's doing okay. She was caught up, and she made the only choice that would grant her life. Maybe, just maybe, something will come of this." He looked back to the clone. "Walk with me back home, please. Then tell me there."

"Worried?"

"I think I have a right to be. I have a feeling that shit's going to hit the fan soon."

 **=X=X=**

Kin woke up, but didn't feel at all rested. All of her sleep last night had consisted of an endless tossing and turning, not to mention the cut on her neck had worried her…while it wasn't deep, it could reopen, but all it really needed was for someone to heal it with a **Mystical Palm** technique. A pity that it was the team medic who had done it.

She pushed herself up off of her mattress on the ground to begun readying herself for the day. But halfway through, she just gave up. She was sure to meet Naruto doing the exams, and she didn't know how she'd face him.

If he really was forgiving as he had seemed, or if she was going to be killed, she didn't know.

She was nothing more than an apple farmer's daughter, playing kunoichi for what she believed was the wrong side. She had dared, she had hoped, she had believed. She had been friends for months inside a single day with a boy who could supposedly foresee the future, and she had revealed his secret.

She had had no choice, or so she believed.

"If he knew what would happen, shouldn't he have told me what to do to stop it? Or try to intervene?" She muttered.

Hopefully by the end of the day, she'd get to know what her future was. As he claimed, he only knew the future, but as he was, he could change the outcome.

She wanted to _live_. She wanted to be _free_. She wanted to live free of the chains of her sociopathic bosses. If that wasn't going to be possible, let her leaving be quick…let it be sudden and take her unawares.

Please.

 **=X=X=**

"Listen up, maggots! This time…to pass as a team is no longer necessary!"

All eyes flitted to each other among teams, some people even went as far as to distance themselves from their own teammates, as if there was already some bad blood among them.

"But it's not quite a free-for-all just yet. It depends on you!' Anko yelled. "There are thirty teams of you! Each team will get a gate to enter. Each teammate…gets a bomb seal to transport!"

"What the hell?!" Ino gawked. "Is she for real?!"

"Pipe down, troublesome woman," Shikamaru chastised. "Do you want her to single you out like she did Naruto yesterday?" That shut her up immediately, as the Mitarashi continued to speak.

"It has a time limit of exactly **five** **days**. It's got a kickass explosion, so you do not want to be caught with it while your pants are down. All each person needs to do, is have three to be eligible to pass for the next round. Ninety people will get slashed to thirty. Unless some people die, and I'm hoping they will, even better. The next round will be the last, so you'd better try your damndest to pass. So listen up for the final time! I'm gonna clarify! This is the Forest of Death! Each person will be given an A ranked explosive seal. The trigger for their countdown are the gates through which you have to pass through to get into the kill-zone. Each person needs to acquire three seals, then enter the tower at the center of the forest. Of course, entry of the tower neutralizes the seals, but of course this means that you have five days to get there with three to qualify. You can get through this as teams, alliances, solo, I don't give a fuck even if you wanna take your sweet time and commit suicide."

"Bell test all over again," Sakura muttered. And her teammates had to agree. But Naruto in particular was thinking about his gifts once more, and knew that he had a significant advantage. The **Vista Radial Zone** will come in extremely useful in this test. And he'll need it.

"So it doesn't matter if you take this on as a team. Each person must have three. That's a lot of fighting, don't you agree? Oh, and I should mention…the bombs are…well, they're fuckin' bombs, so of course they'll be volatile in certain situations. So if you love using katon carelessly, you're going to find yourself becoming a pyromaniac sooner rather than later. Capische?"

"…" Naruto turned to his raven haired teammate. "Sasuke? What say you?"

The Uchiha looked down momentarily. He considered the thoughts of going solo, and he was so close to just saying it. All he needed to say was-

"No. We're going as a team," he said the last in a sort of humbled tone. "But," his tone grew cocky. "Don't slow me down."

"I wouldn't want to have to hold a memorial service minus a body instead of a funeral, Uchiha," Naruto replied in the same braggart tone. "You heard her. Five days. We don't even need that much."

"Hn."

"Sakura, could you be so kind as to tell Ino 'no' when she asks you? And be polite."

"Huh?" The pinkette became confused quickly. "Waddya mean?"

"Hey Sakura!" Ino called as she approached. "I've been thinking…how about an alliance? It should work out, huh?"

Sakura's confusion was immediately lifted. "Oh…sorry Ino. But I can't. We might…hold you back. Besides, more people together might make us bigger targets."

"Oh." The Yamanaka was a bit disappointed. "Alright. I'll go ask team 8." She walked away, and the team 7 members looked at each other.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto…you're scaring me, no lie about that," Sakura admitted. "How can you do and know the things you do?"

"That's classified information," he said in a cheesy tone. "However, I suggest giving all bombs to Sasuke. Since he's the one blowing fire, he shouldn't set it off on us for friendly fire." He looked causally behind him, and noticed Iwa genin and Team Oto staring at him. When he held their gaze with his own, Kin was first to turn away, most likely away. Naruto mirrored the action and turned back to his team members. "Today promises to be exciting..."

…

…

…

The gates flew open, and every team dashed inside, each person with intent on getting their requirements. The sooner, the better. Even if it had to be from their own teammates corpses. Everyone, was paranoid of everyone…save for the Konoha 12. They stuck together like welded and melded iron, knowing that teamwork would and should suffice to make them pass.

Naruto had taken point for the team, knowing that if they took a particular direction, it should lead them straight to…

…

…

…

"There he is! Kill him!"

Naruto was forced to dive to take cover behind a log as a multitude of kunai and shuriken slew through the space he was previously occupying. He then created six shadow clones behind the log as he did, before each dashed out into the open one by one, beginning to befuddle the Iwa team.

"Is that a genjutsu?" The girl of the opposing team wondered. They all tried genjutsu kai, but as they tried to no success, they had to dodge two kunai from each clone, one that each drove them back a step. However, the males in particular were more hardheaded, and pressed forward. "Kill the son of the Yellow Flash!"

"Son of who?" Naruto looked up to his forehead as if in thought. "Oh, the Yondaime! You really think I'm his son? Damn, it'd be so cool if I were, dattebayo! I mean, it's not too much of a stretch, is it?"

The Iwa team felt like they were being made a fool of, but conveniently, the second team of their comrades arrived and the smile fell from Naruto's face. "Oh damn, the cavalry."

"Plug him!"

" **Doton: Tsuchi no tosu**!" (Earth release: Earthen Toss) The new arrivals yelled as they each went through five handseals ending on Horse. Not too soon after they did, a pillar rose up extremely quickly beneath each clone that threw them off their feet and a heavy fall to the ground dispersed them all.

"Damn, not quite yet," Naruto whispered. "I have to wait to get this exactly perfect…alright, 3…2…1… **Now**!" He shouted the last at the top of his lungs.

" **Suiton: Jūsei**!" (Water release: Gunshot) The call came, before compact water globules flew out of shrubbery on one side adjacent all the Iwa Nin, while kunai and shuriken flew from traps set up on a ninja-wire trip line. Added to the mix, large balls of wrapped napkins fell the roof of the forest, and a second after they hit ground, a firecracker went off in their bowels, releasing a torrent of salt and grounded peppers flew everywhere within and without the Iwa Nin foolish enough to blunder into an ambush.

Water gunshots pelted and buffeted with extreme force, bladed weapons pierced, and seasoning bombs took them all by surprise. They were promptly the victims of broken bones, cut flesh and bereft of eyesight…but that was before Sasuke fell from the tree tops, Sakura leapt from the bushes and Naruto vaulted over the log to capitalize on a golden opportunity, blade-baton at the ready.

Sasuke drop-kicked one of the Iwa genin with his heel with all the might his leg and gravity had to offer, right in the young man's head; he was knocked out instantly, and cushioned the Uchiha's landing with his back as he fell. As soon as he landed, his next act was to sweep kick another at the neck and slam him into the ground, where unfortunately a shuriken was sticking out of the ground. The genin fell unto the shuriken gut first…he would have the pleasure of bleeding out slowly, while the juices and enzymes of his punctured digestive tract poisoned his insides.

Naruto had the baton portion at the ready to drop swing it into a collarbone of one of the Iwa genin, making him scream horribly and writhe in pain on the ground. Almost immediately following through, he swung it next into the gut of a kunoichi who had been sensing for him from the start. As she doubled over in pain, he stabbed the baton into the ground halfway and grabbed her head from behind and slam it down with almighty force unto the baton handle with her forehead, brutally knocking her out. Without hesitation, Naruto unsealed one of his mugshots and primed it in his left hand, getting ready for the end.

The first thing Sakura did was to use her running momentum to power a fist pummel it into the back of a kunoichi's head and then pile-drived her into the dirt. "Cha!" However, she was ignorant of a principally large Iwa genin who rose back up behind her and saw the pinkette through teary and blurry vision.

"Graghh!" He yelled his anger and charged at Haruno, intent on knocking her head off her body with a rushing attack…he was a Taijutsu heavy hitter, after all.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled as he tossed the shrapnel gun. "Catch!"

Caught flat-footed, she caught the damned weapon she feared and held it at the south end, intentionally perfect; for Naruto's purposes, most likely. It was then she heard the thundering footsteps of the boy behind her and the mugshot went off, right as the boy caught up with her.

A booming was heard as the two went down, the boy on top of the kunoichi. Not two seconds later, the boy was pushed off by the Haruno, even revealing wounds that showed that the buckshots of the gun had blown right through the boy's heart to the other side. Sakura felt herself all over for wounds and panted. "I'm alive!"

"Of course you're alive," Naruto chided. "If you had held the business end, it would have been a different story."

"…"

"…" The two of them stared at the Uzumaki, hardly able that he had pulled such a gamble like that, risking Sakura's life.

"I will not allow harm to come to any of you," Naruto stated in a demure, yet confident tone. "I'll make sure of that. I'd sooner amputate a limb with a butter-knife than allow any of you two to get hurt. I knew that you'd hold it right. I know _exactly_ what to do and when. I'm not asking any of you to believe in me, or become subservient to me. I only want you to **trust** that I'll make decisions that will benefit us as a whole."

"…" Both of them looked down, and while they did, Naruto began looting the downed ninjas for their bomb seals. "We have what we need. Each of us will have all the seals that we must have to pass. Now let's tie these guys up." He then eyed the one Sakura just killed. "Except the dead one. We need some time to get as far as we can to the tower before making camp. It's almost night, and creatures larger than us and just as deadly haunt this forest."

 **=X=X=**

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sakura?"

"Thanks."

"It's not something you should thank for. I'm doing what I was supposed to. Nice punch, by the way. I feel sorry for the girl you made eat dirt."

"Naruto?" This came from Sasuke.

"Yeah, man?"

"How did you know that there was the best place to set up an ambush for the two Iwa teams? Not to mention, knowing that they'd chase after you from the start and sent clones with us to help plan the ambush elsewhere?"

"Don't you mean how we pulled it off without a single mistake?" Naruto asked.

"That too," Sakura asked curiously. "How do you know about things like this? How are you so strong?"

"Today, you lived like me. To make no mistake," Naruto replied easily with a grin. "That's how and why I'm strong. To fight with little to no effort."

"To make no mistakes; that would mean that you're perfect. That's impossible." Sasuke admonished sternly.

"It's a blessing, Sasuke. You get the Sharingan, I've got what I've got."

"Then what do I have?" Sakura mumbled in a depressed tone. "The two of you have it all figured out, and things that make the two of you strong. I'm just a commoner." She kicked out the fire and sat to one side. "I'll take the first watch."

Sasuke and Naruto didn't know what to say. They merely ducked inside the cave at the back and went to sleep, leaving Sakura alone to figure out what she needed to do to acquire her niche, to figure out what part she needed to play to be useful to her team.

 **That's done. Several people doing some soul searching, and the next chapter should have more and better fights; no spoilers. Now get outta here; leave a review on your way out if you wanna.**

 **Oh, and before I go, yeah, Naruto's overpowered, but there's a lot of criticalities. Maybe two chapters from now, there will be a revelation of some sort. I did try to nerf it, and there's a lot of technicalities that will come into play.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Living Twice**

 **Well, it's been too long. To be honest…well, yeah, I got sucked into a new game(s) [Sigh. Good times]. Besides, it's where I get my inspiration for fights mostly, as well as powers. But if this counts as foreshadowing, I've found some inspiration in Red Dead Redemption (Undead Nightmare) and BioShock Infinite that should crop up by the end of the fic. No, not the confusing multiverse bit; it's for a weapon or two. (Grins maniacally.) You've been warned. It's not too obvious, but it'll be sure to kick some ass, while I'll be able to keep some originality. I always try to make my twist and tweaks somewhere, somehow.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't frickin' own Naruto. Now let's get on with it.**

 **I've got a few hours to type 'cause the power company is about to flick the switch to 'OFF' to prepare for Hurricane Matthew. Pray for me, my children! Pray that I will be safe!**

 **19\. This is Revelation**

Kin kicked dirt over the small fire to put it out and stretched with a yawn. Her waking hours had been spent in deep thought. That was all she had nowadays, she thought. The privacy of her own mind. What with deadly bosses on one front and the betrayal of boys on another one, there was little more she could call her own. Not even her life; too many people either had ownership of it or had a bid for it.

For Kami's sakes, what the hell had she ever done to do this? She was just a normal girl…sans for having her village massacred, being sold as a slave, bought by a Multi-Farmer out of pity, then adopted by the man as his daughter, and then screwed up by entering the employment of Orochimaru.

Well, not bad for what was supposed to be the best years of your life, right? She hit fifteen not too long ago, although she spent it as a quiet affair; she kept it to herself.

(Feh…life was short.)

And then, she made her first friend in a long time. A boy who was supposed to be her quarry. It was funny how the predator had become the prattler. Had anyone ever seen a predator that was afraid of its own prey? It was hilarious, no doubt, but surely not from her perspective.

Her feelings were subsiding. She felt calmer as she re-evaluated her situation.

She…could not be on both sides. To sit between both meant that she would only get caught in the crossfire.

On Naruto's side, she could finally seize a chance to move on, or even make a friend and have some measure of life before it was snatched from her.

On Orochimaru's side, she would merely get to keep her life. Be his pawn in ending Naruto's life all around him…his own village. She didn't know how or why she was still alive as she was currently a risky liability, what with her association with Naruto, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Gathering herself, she realized that she was stroking her hair which was draped mostly over one shoulder. It was a nervous habit of hers that had started recently, but made no attempt to curb it. It made for good stress relief…sometimes.

She had to pick a side.

Naruto was strange, to say the least. He acted aloof at times, seemed to give off a slightly cocky vibe and could be threatening. But of late, she started to believe that he had been bluffing to kill her. Well, he might not feel that way about her teammates, but surely not her. Besides, he did drag her off into his 'experience'. That showed trust in her, right?

Well, except for the fact that she sold him out. She was threatened, after all. He couldn't hold it against her. Not to mention, she had reason to believe that he wasn't going to care. He must've known, and she hadn't been killed in her sleep since. That was a good sign, she thought with a tiny grin.

Looking to her teammates, she pondered that it was a good chance as any to make a break for it to run. But then she had to take into account how other teams were in this forest and everyone was out for explosive seals. She had two of her own, as did her teammates. They had taken down another team for their seals, and the plan was to go after Team 7 for theirs. Kill two birds with one stone. Kill them literally, too.

But would she take part in that?

She heaved a sigh as she went about rousing her teammates from their slumber. Hopefully when the time came, she would have made her choice. There was no good or bad choice. There were only two bad ones…she'd have to pick the one that saved either her life, or the one that would save her better consciences.

She recalled a 'day' when they had one of their better conversations in the experience. It was one of those that started off idle, and she didn't cuss him out for her predicament. It had a bit of a background-check feel to it, and she allowed herself to be a bit more vulnerable than how she wanted the world to see.

" _You still haven't told me how you knew that apples were my-" She gazed at the non-existent floor on where she lay, wondering what they were actually on. It was as if they were floating in midair. She had broken off the end of the sentence in anticipation that he would finish it, but to her surprise, he didn't._

" _Favourite?"_

 _She averted her eyes. That sounded more like a guess, because a questioning tone was added to it. He didn't sound so sure, and decided to ask him about it. "Yeah, favourite. You knew that, and you sounded like you just guessed the answer."_

" _Well, let's just say that I'm not 'using' my talent to find out what you're going to say. To experience this crap twice would be hell." He waved it off. "Besides, I thought you didn't want me to finish your sentences."_

" _I thought you didn't want me to finish your sentences," she mocked in a half-assed version of his voice._

 _Naruto rolled his eyes as he began going through a book which she had taken a break from, the one she had claimed that it was 'heavy-shit'. "Cute."_

" _Give me my weapons and you wouldn't be saying that," she retorted._

" _Even if I were a quadriplegic, I'd still beat you. A series of some well placed head-butts and biting and you'd be in worse shape. Dead, too."_

" _..."_

" _..."_

" _I can't tell if you're full of yourself, or just full of shit."_

 _Naruto neglected to answer, and began reading. After a while, she breached his focus again._

" _You didn't answer my first question."_

 _He seemed reluctant, but still spoke regardless. "It's like this. Imagine that I'm walking on a path."_

 _She raised an eyebrow at symbolism that he was using. "Alright. Go on."_

" _I'm walking on a trail, and suddenly, there're a bunch of trails. I take the one I need, and I encounter a roadblock of ninjas with fire release. It's the only trail to get to where I'm supposed to go. Before they see me, I turn back, and head home." He gave a look as if to ask her if she understood so far. She gave a nod in affirmation._

" _The next day, I set out again back to get where I need to go, and this time, I've got a friend or two who're talented at water release. They take out the roadblock, and I get to where I need to go."_

" _This is basically you telling me that you foresaw something bad and planned head to take it on. But how does it..." Kin got silent. "Can't you be more specific?"_

" _You just want me to tell you how it works. I'd rather not."_

" _Please?"_

" _No."_

" _Please?"_

" _No."_

" _I won't tell anyone." She mustered in a promising tone._

" _Oh really? I don't think so."_

" _Why won't you?"_

" _I'm good company." She used his words against him. "C'mon, tell me. Maybe you could even help win a sweepstakes or some shit like that."_

" _My gifts," Naruto began. "It happens in my head. I see what happens. When it happens, I'm prepared."_

" _But you said that I told you. We never spoke about that, so how did you prepare for it?"_

 _Naruto grinned. "By foreseeing it, it's as good as experiencing it. I already know, so why would we talk about it?"_

" _That's actually a cool ability. If I had that..." She stared off into space. "Nah, never mind. I'd only be seeing how I'd get killed."_

" _It's complicated."_

 _Kin became thoughtful, as she tried to decipher his earlier answers. 'He said multiple paths. Hmm...I wonder.' "So does this mean that when you do something different, you don't know what can happen?"_

" _It's complicated." He changed the subject right after. "But hey, if you must know, I love ramen with a passion."_

 _She wouldn't let him change the topic so easily. They could meander from it, sure, but not derail from it completely. "So is this 'gift' of yours genetic? Like a bloodline that's passed down from your parents?"_

" _Yeah. I think so. I think my father must've been the one to have it; he was a real battlefield terror. But I can't help but wonder..." He became crestfallen, something she took notice of. "If he could foresee the future, how did he manage to die?"_

" _Maybe your mom is the one with the ability, since your dad is the one who kicked the bucket?"_

" _She passed on." The air became glum with angst, and Kin couldn't help but feel ashamed. She knew how it felt to be an orphan, and even worse, witnessed how she became one. There was a need to fill the silence made by her host, so she stepped up._

" _Errm...My condolences. I didn't know you were-"_

" _Of course you knew I was an orphan," he butted in. "It'd have been more believable if you said that you didn't know it was such a sore topic."_

 _He was right. She knew. Besides, the ninfo card she got on him told her that he was an orphan, but she had overlooked it, instead to scrutinize what it said about his powers and skills. "You're right. But sorry anyhow."_

" _Sorry enough that you won't tell your parents about a blond boy kidnapping you?" His eyes gleamed with mirth._

" _I won't tell them," she said easily. Her parents were dead anyhow. "But if there's an afterlife, I'll let them know." She muttered dryly._

" _Ouch. I guess I'm guilty too."_

" _Let's just forget about that. Before this turns into some big ol' pity party." She answered resolutely._

" _Sure," he agreed quickly. "Anyway, why'd you grow out your hair? Doesn't it get in the way of living?"_

" _Yeah, yeah. But it's not a burden, or anything like that," she replied as she thought about her mother's words. "I'll only trim it if it gets so long that I have to drag it on the ground. "I've been told that I'm blessed." She heaved a sigh that she used to blow up to a bang that fell over her forehead protector. "The hair, I mean."_

" _A blessing, huh? Well, it_ _ **is**_ _nice hair." He flustered, as if unsure of himself. She noticed, having been a kunoichi long enough to observe and manipulate emotions in people._

" _Heh. I think I like this side of you. The one that doesn't act like a know-it-all, arrogant bastard. When you don't use that so-called gift of yours, you act more like a modest guy."_

" _Who gave you the right to judge?"_

" _Ugh. Just do something entertaining, already! I'm bored to shit." She exclaimed with resign._

 _His eyebrow began to tick. "Geez, couldn't you just take the damn compliment? I'm just saying what I think."_

" _Well, a fat lot of good that compliment does for me now, huh?" She retorted with a biting tone. The Oto kunoichi turned back to him, but he looked as if he was going to take a nap. His waking state only lasted another minute before he dropped off. Waiting a bit more to make sure that he was unconscious, she made the answer that she had wished to say._

" _Thanks, Naruto."_

 _Then she went off to sleep herself._

 **=X=X=**

Naruto sweated, and tossed and turned in his restless slumber. Surely whatever he was experiencing was giving him nothing less than nightmares, and they'd be right. However, for Naruto's 'special' situation, to experience something horrible was something that should be multiplied.

The Twice Experience lad finally woke up, but it was from no one's intervention. Well, to be fair, it was.

An explosion rocked the area the cave he was in, and the boy had to roll sideways out of his bedroll to avoid rocks that tumbled from out of the ceiling, right into the place he had previously occupied. After a bit of a tizzy, he came to grips that they were already under attack.

By Orochimaru himself.

His experiences were horrible. Once again, he had been brought into a situation where he had been forced to choose. It was an incredibly hard choice. But the experience was trying to make it easy for him.

Self-preservation.

Hard choices, simple factions, one chance; each with their own repercussions.

Choice 1: Run away.  
His conscience would be shot at abandoning his team. They would surely be injured or worse. Although this was a free-for-all with allowances for team-ups, he couldn't believe it in himself to leave. Besides, wasn't he the one who promised to look out for them?

This...this was what the experience had prepared him for. To leave his comrades in the lurch and flee.

Choice 2: Stay and fight.  
He would be risking his own safety, his own life to stay with his team. All could and would probably meet their demises at the hands of the Snake Sannin...the very same he hadn't a clue to fight. He'd be living up to his promise, although any sane man would tell him to cut his losses.

This was what he was all about. All his life since his tenth birthday. His reliance on his ability had crippled him. He had grown comfortable in his knowledge, hesitant and afraid to take risks. What kind of a life was that?

The fore-experience had painted him into a corner, and judging from the sounds of the fighting his teammates were putting up and the yells of his name, he'd better make his choice soon.

He had three more gifts. He'd have to use them.

 **=X=X=**

"Naruto sure is a sound sleeper," Sakura grunted as she threw two kunai at the Kusa ninja, who caught them in two hands and threw them back at her. She had the agility necessary to dodge them, while silently thanking the blond in her head for all the rocks thrown at her. She (and Sasuke) had far too many welts sported on their bodies caused by rocks thrown in training, only to be taken down by a few kunai.

They were more resilient, agile and tenacious, even keeping their cool when facing someone who was of a higher calibre. But that didn't excuse the fact...

Where the bloody hell was the Uzumaki?

A few more kunai were thrown between Sasuke and the enemy nin, and thanks to his sharingan, the Uchiha used one more of his to parry the thrown ones aside, and they were promptly retrieved by Sakura, who patiently waited for Naruto to arrive. Sasuke, was close to losing it.

Just seconds before he blew his stack, a smoke bomb erupted at team 7's position. As soon as it did, seven identical copies of each of the members rushed out in all directions. Orichimaru could see that the gaff was an obvious clone technique, but he could not depict which one of the sets was the real thing.

The Sannin would have grinned to himself, had he not been in a hurry. If he couldn't see what the real thing was, it meant that they weren't disguising themselves in the group. They had fled.

His eyebrows furrowed as he decided to deal with the distractions at once. For his plan to succeed, he'd need to beat down his future container and make it look like he wasn't even trying. He could do that, with several limbs tied. He'd put on a terrific show about how Sasuke was weak, and that he should go to him (Orochimaru) to get stronger. If he just inflicted the curse mark on his host like any day of the week, it would be like a common assault with no real purpose.

He went through the handseals at what he believed to be an average jounin's speed. Just enough for the boy's Sharingan to see the see the gist of and realize that he was taking his time at doing it. After priming up his technique, he called up a wall of wind that blew apart at erratically that raced for all the copies while announcing the jutsu in his mind.

' **Futon: Kaze Garasuhen.'** (Wind Release: Wind Shards).

 **=X=X=**

Naruto's eyes widened. "Huh? Did we just...die?" He shook his head as he and his team tree-hopped as fast as they could. "What?"

"What the hell are you blabbering about?" Sasuke bit out harshly. "And where the hell were you? Couldn't you hear the sounds of fighting and wake the fuck up? Me and Sakura were going up against that kusa nin for all of fifteen minutes. And she was just playing with us."

Naruto chuckled embarrassedly, but knew it wasn't the time or place to be telling them what he was capable of. He, however, got the feeling that his clones all got wiped out with a single jutsu, all from multiple first person perspectives. It was a bit dizzying, but he realized that he must've gotten memories from them. An interesting prospect, one that may have eluded him when he had been training with them. Since he was training with them, he must have thought all the memories were his. But that wasn't the main issue.

"Naruto?" This came from Sakura.

"Huh?" Was his most useful answer. "What is it? Want to chew me out too?"

"No. I just want to ask what we're going to do. You always have spot-on guesses and fight incredibly strong people. What do we do?"

The Uzumaki could tell that his male teammate was also asking this question, and Naruto became scared. Now, he was truly living only once, and winging it. The very idea scared him; sure, he could manage talking to Hinata without it, but to fight the rouge Snake Sannin? It was already next to impossible, as the experience first dictated that he should have fled. But to fight him? About a cube of ice's chance in the noonday sun. Or rather a snowball's chance in hell. Naruto even checked a glance up just to make sure that a pig wasn't flying about while making squealing sounds akin to a bird chirping.

"We...no. **I can't** fight him," he answered at last. "But I know he's after Sasuke. I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve, but I'm going to need you two to go along with whatever I tell you."

"And that would be...?" Sakura trailed off.

"Leave me behind. Both of you."

"..." Sakura was mortified, and Sasuke tried to figure out his crazy teammate. "What? Why the-"

"Naruto knows best, right?" Sakura muttered, cutting him off. "I've never seen him go wrong before."

"He just said that he can't fight him, Sakura!" The onyx-eyes youth insisted. "Or didn't you hear him?!"

The Uzumaki felt fearful as he heard the words of his teammates. He had never before felt so weak. Besides his knowledge, what did he really have to call his own? A couple of mugshots, his experimental pipe, a couple dozen bomb seals of varying degrees of potency and pellet cases for reloads and bomb-balls. **Kage bunshins** , and a **Great Breakthrough** for Ninjutsu. And Orochimaru? Decades of experience, tons of Ninjutsu, summoner of massive snakes and was at the very top of everyone's shit list. You don't get that far along without being insanely strong and sly and sadistic and...

"I can do it, I can do it," Naruto chanted, much to his teammates' befuddlement but he soon turned to them as he continued to flee. "Listen up. I can get you guys closer up to the tower, but he'll catch up soon. He'll toy with me a little, long enough for you guys to get sanctuary at the tower. Besides, it's going to get really hectic soon, as another guy will be coming into the fight."

"This sounds more than what you can handle," Sasuke grunted. "And you still haven't told us who that guy is."

"It's Orochimaru. If I get killed, just go tell Kakashi that he's in the village, and that he's after you for the sharingan. Now enough of this mopey nonsense!" He bellowed, startling his teammates. "Let's go, before I chicken out. I'll be there. I promised that nothing is going to happen to you guys, but I need the two of you to go in order for me to live up to that."

"Even if you die?" Sakura asked fearfully, knowing fully well who Orochimaru was. She couldn't believe they had been tangling with the man for so long. For even ten seconds was actually a miracle.

"I won't die," he answered resolutely, hoping that they would believe him more than he did himself. "Time's on my side, and I'll be stalling him. I'm going to wing it, and someone will soon be here to buy me some time for me to escape."

He held up his right hand and gazed at the palm. There, it held the kanji for 'FAST' that glowed a faint white. He grasped his teammates by the shoulders and told them to run, and hold unto him while they did.

And so they did, although curiously. They had even more questions as they heard him mumble:

" **Vista Radial Zone."**

 **=X=X=**

Kin got an odd sense pricking at her, and far off to her right, she could see what looked like a small globe of white pass through the trees at incredible speeds. She could see the far off light as if through the trees themselves, as if the trees were transparent. She could tell that this was Naruto's doing, and wondered what he was up to. Her teammates were still searching for team 7, but she neglected to tell them where she suspected they might be.

Let them continue searching. She hoped that they wouldn't find them, as she had no idea what she'd do, or have to do should they ever find one another.

 **=X=X=**

Far ahead now, Naruto stopped, but he waved them on. They were slower now, and Naruto took stock of what he had left. He had two fifteen-seconds of white essence, and three fifteen-seconds of black essence. He had knowledge of how to combine them to make another version. It would be his most effective, and he knew he might be able to make it work. He could feel his confidence returning, and he smiled broadly.

"I'll not only stall him, or beat him. I'll kill him. Not even he can stand up to my abilities. I will not die. I WILL LIVE!"

 **=X=X=**

Gaara recalled his sand into his gourd with a demented pleasure as he looked on at the bloodstains on the ground. The two crimson deluges that were once his siblings offered him a sick satisfaction while he approached where they had had dropped their proffered tags as an act to spare their own lives. He still needed to hand them in, but as soon as he was about to make his departure, a blond ninja in dark blue clothing landed in the clearing and swiped up the special explosive tags. The Suna jinchuriki frowned as he noted the boy's description; even his whisker-like marks on his cheeks. He didn't say a word; instead, he darted away in an escape attempt.

With nary a second thought, Gaara of the sand unleashed his sand once more as he gave chase after the ninja, riled and thoroughly deadset on making him one with his sand.

...

Far ahead, Kabuto smirked to himself in the disguise of a henge of the Uzumaki he had come to covet for his powers. Just wait 'till he got an eyeful of an outraged Ichibi Jinchuriki. While he'd be occupied by a formidable target, he'd just knock him out with one of his more potent medical jutsu. Naruto would soon wake up on an operating table, under a scalpel.

 **=X=X=**

Naruto continued to double-check his supplies and gave a sharp lookout for any and all combatants. He still had some measure of trepidation, but he could manage it. He was still counting on Kabuto coming after him in tandem with Gaara of the Desert. The wait was getting to him though...to wait in the silence while knowing that three powerful people were after him.

And he hadn't a clue what to do.

Who first? Orochimaru? Kabuto? Gaara?

"So, Naruto Uzumaki, is it?" A tall and seemingly Kusa nin hailed as 'she' strolled into the clearing where Naruto was standing in the middle of. "Where is the rest of your team?"

Naruto was tempted to spoil the info of what he knew, mainly that he knew the man and his intentions. It was a habit of his of being a know-it-all, but he'd need every bit of advantage over the man's potential ignorance. "They're about." He lied. 'Halfway to the tower,' he finished in his mind, just so he couldn't betray the fib through his physicality like eye movement.

"I see."

'This isn't a fight, Naruto, this is a hit and run,' he reminded himself as he pulled out his blade baton in his right hand in a reverse grip and three shuriken in his left. With a simple strafe run to his right, he threw the shuriken, and blew the **Daitoppa** he had been working on to do seal-lessly.

He put in the right amount of chakra into the attack, and the shuriken sped up after his adversary. He wasn't surprised to see the man dodge them, but he was nearly overwhelmed at the speed the man threw a single kunai. If Naruto hadn't been training his reflexes, he would have surely suffered from a mortal wound in the chest. He took the man's surprise as a chance to grip his baton in his teeth and form the cross handseal to create fifty clones.

As they all bomb-rushed the Sannin, he stood apart and silently cursed the fact that he hadn't any ranged techniques, due to fighting at close range with the aid of knowledge of the future. It was then that he remembered his pipe, but he didn't know if the man would dodge it.

It was a chance he'd have to make.

"Get 'im!" He yelled the battle cry.

While the man was busying himself with the clones, Naruto leapt up into the tall trees and stood and branch while unsealing a four-foot long metal pipe (that one could find in a household) with the word 'CARBINE' engraved into it. It had only one open end, and he pointed it at Orochimaru while he flexed the power vested in his left side. The kanji for 'SLOW' was briefly visible, and his aura became blackened. All of a sudden, time slowed down to the farthest reaches of his mightiest ability, that of fifty feet. Everything in a fifty-foot radius slowed to 1/5th of their original speed, including the area and combatants around him. Time moved normal for he alone, and he channelled his chakra into the base. He followed the man fighting off the clones fluidly with only taijutsu in slow motion, and as four seconds passed, a dull roar was emitted from the pipe, along with a spout of flame.

A single unit of lead smashed its way into the man's skull, but instead of elation, Naruto saw the man's -replacement with a log and saw the movement from it. It was high-speed movement after-all, but he was seeing it as if it were normal movement.

A third of the fifteen seconds were used, and Naruto primed a bomb ball and hurled it to the man's new location on the branch of the tree next to him, around thirty meters to his left. But Orochimaru was just that fast as he actually batted the ball away far from him, before it exploded in a spray of tile shrapnel that did nothing to those out of range.

With only six seconds left on his internal clock, Naruto fled down to where his clones were and created three dozen more, which he hurriedly mingled with in the hopes that he would lose him in the medley. He readied another bomb-ball, praying that the man would come after him so he could then replace himself and get out of the confusion while the man would suffer the brunt of the explosion. Orochimaru didn't take the bait, much to his disappointment. He threw the shrapnel explosive at the man at the last second, hoping to get lucky.

He didn't.

Instead, Orochimaru disappeared from view, and Naruto felt a savage kick in his side that drove him some meters away into a tree, but not without going through some of his clones that puffed away. Blood flew from the reaches of his gut and through his mouth. Orochimaru had pulled a shunshin to get next to him and with an Earth release technique, annihilated the dozens of clones who milled about in the confusion.

Naruto didn't feel so much ashamed as in pain at that moment as the disguised Sannin approached him while chuckling. "Ku ku ku ku. Ah, Naruto-kun. You're full of surprises. Was that a swift release I saw?"

'It wasn't me being fast, it was you being slow, dumb-ass,' Naruto thought grimly. "Something like that. I was just talented with shunshins, is all. Anyay, how do you know my name? Do I know you, lady?" Naruto pretended and stalled as he tried to think of his next move. As the disguised ninja was about to answer, Naruto unsealed his mugshot from behind him and laced the tiniest (and hopefully untraceable by sensoring) amount of chakra into the base.

"No. Now where is Sasuke?"

"..."

"..."

"I thought you were looking for team 7 in general," Naruto said slowly. At that, he pulled his hand from behind him and tossed up the mug to the man, who caught it deftly. "He's in the cup."

There was a law. This law mandated that any trick you have never experienced before will catch you hook, line and sinker. 'Oh, something's on your shirt.' You look at your shirt, the trickster would flick your nose. 'Watch out for the dog-crap!' You look down, and there's nothing there.

Naruto told him to look in the mug, and without thinking, the 'experienced shinobi' upturned the mug that looked empty as if to look in it.

It came as no surprise that he blew his face off, and tile shrapnel buried itself into it at odd, gross angles. Naruto took the opening to roll out of the way with a giggle sounding from his lips. His side still hurt him as he stood up, but he grit his teeth against it while cleaning the blood off of his lips with his shirt sleeve.

It was a long time since he had actually felt pain on the battlefield. Only in training had he sustained it, and Orochimaru looked livid enough to make him experience as much pain as possible before killing him.

He ripped off his facial mask and glared at the jinchuriki with his unique golden snake-like eyes. "You will die for your insolence, child."

"Oh geez..." He glanced around for his baton and found it nowhere to be seen. On hardwired instinct of fearing to perish, he was about to activate his combination of the essences, but Orochimaru was faster and half-screwed a punch from the waist straight into the boy's face and sent him flying in a measure of meters. With a yell of pain, Naruto couldn't find it in him to try and land properly and fell into a slide along the ground that dug out a trench. "Gahh!"

As he turned to look up, he saw Kabuto of all people standing over him, and he paled. He knew that meant Gaara was somewhere near, as in the experience, Kabuto had approached him solo and Gaara had targeted him (Naruto) for no particular reason.

Sand then washed over his body, and his fears began coming to light. He could faintly hear something along the lines of 'kill Gaara' that sounded from Kabuto, and Orochimaru exclaimed something along the lines of 'let it be'. Naruto's eyesight became gritty with the sand, but his perspective was clear.

" **Vista Radial Zone**."

From his own perception, he could sense the kanji of 'FAST' on his right hand appear in white, and 'SLOW' on his left, black and white respectively. But then they dulled and blurred together and made a perfect gray, and Naruto became omnipotent.

 **STOP**

All of time stopped in the fifty-foot radial of his domain that had grey aura in his eyes, and Naruto hurriedly shook himself to be rid of the sand that covered him. He had only fifteen seconds, and he had already wasted three just to get himself free.

Standing up again freely, he recognized that all present as his foes needed to die and he hurried while doing so, but he was calm. All he could hear was the rapid beating of his heart as he pulled out his second mugshot and placed it firmly against Kabuto's forehead, knowing from his fore-experience that the man could heal himself from virtually anything, save for an overkill attack on his head. Only that which he interacted with had real time like he did, and the timer of the still had four seconds. He waited it out, and blew Kabuto's brains apart, which took a definite pause. With a nod, he pulled out a kunai and sprinted to Gaara and planted it firmly in the boy's eye-socket, piercing all the way through.

All was still, and by now he had only two seconds left. He saw his blade-baton laying two or three feet away from Orochimaru, the man stuck in his steps. Naruto managed a poorly done body-flicker to it and picked it up in a firm grasp. Intent on decapitating the man, he swung it but then his time ran out.

Orochimaru seemingly came back to life, and that was all Naruto remembered as he fell to the ground unconscious from a dizzying blow to a pressure point strike in his neck. But he wasn't the only one to fall, as the people who died standing toppled as well.

 **And that's a wrap.**

 **I'm sorry for this late and half-assed chapter. A hurricane (Hurricane Matthew) is set to hit my little Caribbean country of Jamaica in a couple of hours and I had to rush this out to you all before I might get hurt, or worse, experience a power outage. Please take it, and forgive me. I'm on a desktop computer, after all. :P**

 **With that said, this chapter wasn't meant to be about drama, or action, but actually, a bit of an info-dump. Get ready.**

 **Today, we'll be taking into account his new three abilities.**

 **-SLOW**

 **-FAST**

 **-STOP**

 **The term 'Vista Radial Zone' is a bit self explanatory. Let me pull up some definitions:**

 **Vista: A mental view of a succession of remembered or anticipated events.  
Radial: Radiating from or converging to a common centre.  
Zone: Any continuous area that differs in some respect, or is distinguished for some purpose.**

 **Yep, I copied and pasted the most applicable definitions. Move on.**

 **For months, I've had these notes on the abilities. I plan for them to continue evolving or get enhanced (no spoilers) so here it is:**

 **(Black) SLOW: Time is slowed to 1/5 of it's usual speed. For example, what takes a second to notice now takes 12 seconds. See? Easy! My notes, are far more in depth, though.**

 **(White) FAST: Time is sped up to 60/1 of it's usual speed. Naruto, if he could at present, experience 60 minutes, in a single minute. The fractions were harder to work out for me when it comes to how much I should power up our favourite Uzumaki.**

 **(Gray) SLOW: Sigh. He just stops time.**

 **To me, I got these ideas from before I got into Dishonored a week ago. I decided that using that game's engine was the best way to show how he uses his powers, and to illustrate how he does it. You saw how he did it today. Right hand fast, left hand slow, all together equals STOP.**

 **But wait? MRAY, how does FAST and SLOW equal STOP when they're going in the same direction? Shouldn't it be like FORWARD and REVERSE?**

 **To reverse time would be even more OP than to stop it. That's my first answer. Besides, I like the prospect of stopping time. Who doesn't? Moving on.**

 **Now for the criticalities.**

 **It's powered by something I like to call Essence, and once he activates one, it lasts for fifteen seconds. He has three sets of FAST and three sets of SLOW. However, since STOP is so powerful, I decided that he has to merge both a set of FAST and one of SLOW to make a STOP. Get it?**

 **1 FAST= 15 secs.  
1 SLOW= 15 secs.  
1 STOP = 1 FAST+1 SLOW.**

 **Simple, right?**

 **He only has three sets daily, and you could say he has 90 seconds worth of total essence to power them both, like he gets recharged each day. It's independent of chakra, but he cannot use the Essence of one ability to power another ability, and STOP must always have one set of each essence to work. At present, Naruto has only one set of SLOW and one set of FAST.**

 **-His abilities only work in a fifty-foot radius, but he can reduce the distance if he wants to, or just manipulate it only in a straight line. But the distance is fifty feet only. Time is only manipulated in that particular zone. Hmm...I suppose the best example if Itachi's Tsukuyomi mode from Ultimate Ninja 4. Man, I wonder if anyone even remembers those days...**

 **Whew, 1k of explanations.**

 **-His abilities work on all that he holds, so the timers on his weapons work, including his latest 'gun' made out of a water pipe which is called the 'Carbine'. It's not auto, it's more like a traditional musket. Fire a shot and it's a pain to reload.**

 **-Also, for this fic, let's all ignore the laws of friction and gravity and all that mumbo-jumbo when he slows time or stops it. M'kay? Damn, the complications of this fic is giving me gray hairs waaay ahead of my time. Two long explanations for a revelation? Am I crazy? Hope not.**

 **I showed that Orochimaru is still fast as hell when time is slowed. My way of keeping things accurate. He was so fast, that he didn't see anything wrong except for Naruto being the one moving fast. It was just him slower, but not to a standstill.**

 **Anyway, pray for me! Hurricane Matthew is coming for me!**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Living Twice**

 **Hey you guys! Thanks! The hurricane downgraded into a tropical storm! Really! That's some damn good news, am I right? Also, I have even better news…today, is the one year anniversary of this fic!**

 **Woot! (Pops open a champagne bottle) Yeah, that's cause for celebration. Long live Living Twice: Altering the Present, and may it achieve its ending!**

 **Hurrah! Free cookies for everyone and three more cheers for no calories!**

 **20.**

Orochimaru was half-thrown off in mental balance as he saw the dead bodies of his most trusted aide and one of the primary keys to his invasion of the Hidden Leaf village. He glared down at the body of the boy who lay unconscious before him. The very boy who had caused this and had very nearly caused the death of (Orochimaru) himself.

The Ichibi Jinchuriki…dead.  
Kabuto…dead.

In a fit of rage, he reached down and was about to wring the boy's neck when he sensed three ninjas approach. He paused when he recognized the sources, being that of his own team of ninjas in the exams, Dosu, Zaku and Kin. They must've been attracted by the noise of battle and came to investigate, no doubt to pick off one or even two weakened teams at once. He grinned to himself and stood again. "Come hither, subordinates."

He could sense fear from them, and strong hesitancy. They didn't keep him waiting, though, and they landed in the clearing, kneeling on one knee and averted their gazes to the ground. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru?" Dosu asked with a strain in his tone.

The snake sannin thought to himself briefly before he nodded in finality. "Take Naruto here to the hideout at the inner walls. Here are the directions…"

As he gave them the guidelines on how to get to one of the old ROOT bases that used to be used by Danzo Shimura, he was privy to his thoughts on how he needed a new catalyst to initiate the ruination of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. With the loss of the Ichibi, perhaps he could find the sealing necessary to break the Kyuubi free of its prison and use him instead. Nothing much to it, really. Just a crack here and there, and soon the Biju should smash its way through on its own by his (Orochimaru's) manipulation. The nine-tails should be even more destructive, as it nearly finished off the village all those years ago. And with no one formidable around to seal it again, it should make short work of what was long overdue.

"And tell the Sound Four who are there to watch him."

"And the exams, Lord Orochimaru? Do we finish them with our guise?"

"The exams are trivial. You will use the cover of one of the unguarded gates to escape. You need not worry about the exams any longer. You will simply not participate any longer. Do this deed immediately."

"Hai!" All three chorused. Orochimaru smiled in self-accomplishment before tagging the boy with a seal that was sure to seal his chakra to ensure that he reached his destination as harmless and docile as a newborn lamb. Later, he'd stop by to interrogate him on what he was capable of, but now, he needed to catch up to Sasuke, before it was too late.

With a hastening body-flicker, he was off with the leaves, leaving Team Oto alone.

"Heh heh. Would you look at that?" Zaku snickered as they approached the prone form of the lad. "Powerful my arse. Orochimaru took him down-" He snapped his fingers. "Just like that." He kicked the boy hard in his side, and Naruto groaned in his unconsciousness and flinched involuntarily.

"Hey, quit it!" Dosu ordered. Kin exhaled in relief, as she didn't know how she would have told her own teammate not to kick the Uzumaki. "If Orochimaru wants him alive, we want him in one piece."

"Look at how he flinched. Must've been real tender there." The Abumi stated with a snicker.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Remember how he salt-and-peppered your eyes? Besides, do you think that you could've killed that psycho Gaara? I don't think Orochimaru did that."

"Lucky shot." They both grabbed the Uzumaki under his armpits and heaved him up. "Bastards heavy."

Meanwhile, Kin had been poking around, and inspected the second corpse, the one that didn't have piles of sand around it. As she gazed at the clothing and the lower jaw (all that was left of the head), her eyes caught bits and pieces of glass and metal framing-…it was Kabuto's glasses.

"What…hey! You guys!" Kin hailed, hardly able to suppress the feeling of elation and relief. "It's Kabuto! He's dead."

"What?" Kinuta asked unbelievingly as he stared at the corpse in purplish clothing. "That's Kabuto?

"Damn. He don't have a head no more…" Zaku awed. "Guess this little heavy bastard is dangerous after all."

"Yeah, guess so." Kin replied nonchalantly. She picked up a mug and smelt it-…an acrid aroma that usually followed explosive seals was present in it and she decided to carry it with her to show Dosu back at the hideout. He was smart-…he might even figure out a thing or two about it. Attaching it to her waist on a hook, she began tree-hopping with her teammates and thought to herself.

'He killed Kabuto…I wonder. If things were different, would he have been able to pull off a win against Orochimaru? Something changed, somewhere.'

Her mind then ran on the boy who was in tow just ahead of her between two of her teammates, lugged along like so much dead weight. She prayed for the best, then and there. She didn't say any words, think any words. It was more shapeless, like hoping. But it was a prayer nonetheless.

 **=X=X=**

The final members of team 7 went tearing into the tower at the doorway entrance and slammed the door behind them. There were several Leaf nin there, all chunin and jounin as it was like a lobby, of all things. Or a gauntlet, depending on how you looked at it. All they saw was the last loyal Uchiha and a pinkette who were erratic and couldn't say a word as to how breathless they were.

But that didn't say that they stopped.

They still went on about 'help' and 'Naruto' and 'Snake-man' and 'Orochimaru' and 'Kakashi-sensei' that their teacher had to be called in, as a few chunin like Iruka thought they were going into shock and hyperventilation wasn't helping any. The man took them into a side for privacy before knelt down to their level. "Alright, you two. You made it. Now tell me what happened. By the way, where's Naruto? I didn't expect him to go solo."

"He's in trouble, sensei!" Sakura exclaimed as the panting finally left their system. "This snake guy, Orochimaru-"

"Now, now, hold on." The man's one eyed gaze steeled. "Orochimaru?" He remembered Naruto's recent question over the man, and wondered if they were linked. Was the rogue Sannin in the village, in the exams? In the Forest of Death?"

"Yes! He was after Sasuke-kun but Naruto intervened. He told us to run away and leave him behind while he stalled him."

"You…left him behind?" The man's gaze grew cold. "You abandoned a comrade?"

"Stow the shit, Kakashi." This came from Sasuke, and all present were appalled by the lad's audacity. "We never wanted to do it. He wouldn't have anything less, and he sacrificed himself just to make sure I got here. We came here to get help, so we could get this guy! We didn't come to get a speech. Naruto's last words was to tell us to tell you that Orochimaru was here, and I'll be damned if he doesn't come out of this scrap alive. We came to get help, but if all you're going to do is ask, then we'll ask someone else."

The man looked down, almost as if he was ashamed. He knew he would have done the same thing if he was in Naruto's place, and it was hard to be told off by a genin who previously thought he was better off solo. "I'm going out. You two stay put."

"But we can come and help-"

"No." He cut the Haruno off from her line. "You've done enough. I'll get a jounin or two to come with me." He stood sharply, and turned to leave through the door. He turned the knob and stepped out, and as he looked out, he saw Anko leaning on the adjacent wall.

"I'm coming." Was all she said.

Kakashi sighed, but knew that he wouldn't be able to dissuade the woman not to. "Fine." He turned to Kurenai who stood apart. "Kurenai, tell the Hokage that-"

"I heard," the Yuhi interrupted. "Just go."

Not even ten seconds later, two figures raced from the Tower, heading back in a straight line where the two Team 7 members had come from.

…

…

…

"I know that you have some history, but are you sure that-"

"I said I'm coming, and that's that." Anko said firmly with a growl.

"I know." Kakashi kept his eyes open. "What's the plan, if we find him?"

" _When_ we find him," Anko emphasized. "We're gonna kill him."

They soon came to the spot where the most recent battle had taken place, and it was here that they saw a mess of things; bodies, blood, tile shrapnel, some sand, and a mug along with a four-foot pipe.

No Orochimaru. No Naruto.

"Where the hell's the gaki?" Anko muttered as she picked up the mug. Kakashi saw her do the deed and he raced over to her and batted it out of her hand. "What the hell was that for?"

"I'm actually scared of that thing," the Hatake answered as he recalled using it on Zabuza. "That thing is dangerous."

"What, a **mug** , Kakashi?" She asked incredulously. "You must be going off the deep end." She approached it picked it up to show him. "See? Empty."

The man sighed. "It must've been fired already. My guess is that he used it on this poor ninja here. No idea on who he was." He gestured to the half-headless body where blood pooled from the cavity. "But that one over there…that's the Ichibi jinchuriki. I know that that the Sabaku was crazy. He'd kill you just for talking about the weather. No friends, no loved him, except for himself."

"Kinda sounds like me," Anko mumbled. "No one cares about me, either. Guess I'm crazy like him too. Only difference is that I don't have a kunai planted in my eye socket."

"You have people who care about you." Kakashi answered.

"Yeah? Like who?"

The Hatake wanted so badly to answer her, but in the end, neglected to. She shrugged her shoulders in response to this. "That's what I thought."

And that particular remark cut him. It made him feel like a coward.

Anko picked up what looked like stray flesh and recognized it as facial skin. "Huh. Looks like he was using one of his demented disguises by using a person's face. Maybe we can ask your brats for a description and what the face was like. But any sign of Naruto? I gotta admit, the brat's growing on me."

"He's not here." Kakashi saw an imprint of where a boy laid, but no longer was. "Me thinks Orochimaru made off with him." His last clue came to be on a tree trunk high up, and Kakashi had to leap up to closer to it so that he could see it he slightly paled when he saw it, and motioned for Anko to take a look at it too. The message was engraved with what must've been a kunai, and the Mitarashi frowned.

'The exams continue, or I'll destroy the Leaf'.

"Damn. He's blunt. But is he bluffing?"

"I don't know. But let's keep searching."

 **=X=X=**

Orochimaru cursed to himself as he reached the hideout at dusk. It had been too late to get to his quarry, as he was now in the guard of leaf ninjas, and no doubt the Hokage himself was present to ask the Haruno and the Uchiha some questions on what they had seen and heard. They might not have gone through enough for anything substantial, but from his perspective, they knew too much. They knew that he was after Sasuke, not to mention that Kabuto was dead and Gaara of the Desert, the would-be instigator of the primary leveling of the Hidden Leaf was dead. For a biju to respawn in five more years in the Suna area and the exams to reach the finals in a month's time, not a chance would that work out.

He had to go with a substitute. Although he had secured the Tsuchikage's support to remove the Leaf from existence, he still needed a biju to truly make the ambition a reality.

He had no worries about not controlling Kyuubi. That was the Hidden Leaf's problem.

He removed the seal that locked the door of the hideout and after several twist and turns, found his way going down a staircase that went deep into the bowels of the village. Once there in the Underground, he made his way to the dungeon area to find the Sound Four and Team Oto standing separately and the Uzumaki in a figurative pile on the ground in one of the cells, propped against the far wall. At a glance, he was bereft of all but clothing; his shoes and weapons and seals were strewn on a table and were being sifted through for anything worth taking, by light of a kerosene lamp. However, all snapped to attention when they saw their master approach.

"Good evening, Lord Orochimaru!"

"At ease. Is he conscious?"

"I'm conscious," the 'pile' mumbled to all. "Now can someone lemme out? I need to go home. I think I left the stove on."

"He hasn't lost his nerve, Orichimaru-sama," the silver-haired one spoke. "I'd be more than glad to cut out his tongue and feed it to him."

"That won't be necessary, Sakon. Unlock his cell."

The red-headed kunoichi quickly obliged him and pulled off a seal off of the key lock. She then inserted a key and turned it to unlock it, and the steel bars slid open. Orochimaru stepped inside with a grim look on his face. He went through a massive amount of handseals before ripping off the boy's shirt.

Kin winced noticeably as she heard Naruto's screams of pain, long and loud they were. It was guttural too, and he'd surely be going hoarse. As she glanced to the others, they were all emotionless and soon, Orochimaru stepped out. The Uzumaki continued to moan in his misery of the after effects, and the cell was promptly locked again.

"Keep watch over him. He's a special case." He cautioned.

"Hai, Lord Orochimaru!" They chorused. He then stepped past to make him leave, but not without mentioning that he'd be back every five days. Kin gulped as she mused about the implications; whatever he was doing on Naruto, he was going to do it on a regular basis.

And so, Day one came to an end.

 **Day 2**

"So no one's seen Naruto? It's safe to say that he's been abducted by Orochimaru-teme himself."

"I'm afraid so, Hokage-sama. What can I say to the rest of the team?"

"Tell them…to remain strong, Kakashi. Tell them to keep him in their prayers."

"And you, Hokage-sama?"

"I shall continue to rally what ninjas I can to search. In the meantime, the exams must continue. Who are the winners of the preliminaries?"

"They are Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, Shinshoku and Kurotsuchi of Iwa."

"It should have been more."

"There…there was a lot of team killing, Sarutobi-sama."

 **Day 3**

Naruto heaved himself up and stood shakily. "Hey! How many people does it take to guard a single guy, huh? Seven? I'm only thirteen, for Kami's sakes. Almost fourteen, but that's not the case. Can I get something to eat?"

"Shut the fuck up, you shit-spitter bumblefuck!" The red-haired kunoichi shouted as she approached the cell. "Don't you know that you're too fuckin' loud?!"

"You're one to talk. I just want some food. If Orochimaru wants me alive, shouldn't I get some food into me?"

"You want me to shit in your mouth, asslicker?"

"Yikes. No thanks." He held up his hands and waved her down to emphasize his negative answer.

"Tch. So unladylike." Jirōbō muttered.

"You want a piece of me, you cunt-rag fatass?"

"Damn," Naruto looked away. "The language around here is so colorful. How do you deal with that?" He asked aloud. "I just wanted to get something to eat before my gut digests itself."

"Why do we all have to watch him?" Sakon asked privately to Kidomaru. "All seven of us, he's in a cell with no chakra and it's sealed. Is he that powerful, or is Orochimaru-sama that cautious?"

"He killed Kabuto. Don't know how, but we found Kabuto with nothing on his neck except for his lower jaw." Dosu replied. "But he's right. I'll get him some food."

"No metals or plastics," Sakon warned.

"He won't even get the bones, and the damn sandwich is on a sheet of cardboard." He approached the cell and slid the food under the bars. "Here you go."

"Did you spit in this?" Naruto asked. After eyeing the shinobi, he shook his head. "Sorry. Dumb question. You're all bandaged up. But why?"

"…Training burns."

 **Day 5**

Orochimaru had come and gone, but severe pain remained in Naruto's being. He could barely move, but a glance at his stomach where the Sannin had applied his glowing fingers with vividness of seals on the fingertips told him that damage was starting to tell. Something felt busted, and somehow, the seal on his gut didn't look entirely right. It looked a bit…crooked.

 **Day 6**

"This shouldn't have happened, Sakura."

"I know, Sasuke-kun. But I don't think he's dead. If he's dead, Kakashi-sensei would have told us."

"He hasn't exactly told us that he's alive, either." Three kunai sailed through the ear and thudded into a target, spot-on. "He just tells us to pray. We should be acting, not praying!"

"I know. But what can we do?"

"I'm just going to sit in my house and wait for Orochimaru to make his move and come for me. Then-"

"Then what? Let him get his hands on your eyes?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Allow those anbu guards that the Hokage assigned to you do their job."

 **Day 7**

Naruto pushed out the sandwich as soon as Zaku pushed it in. "I'm not hungry."

"Take it."

"No."

"Take it!"

"Hell…no." Naruto said calmly. At this, Abumi grinned and turned to Kidomaru with a triumphant look.

"See? I thought that Kin was joking, but she was right when she told Kabuto when he threatened the info out of her. He can see the future."

"No I didn't," Naruto lied. "Anyone with a nose, or even a brain could tell that you put some of your crap between two slices of bread. I don't want a _**shit**_ wich. I want a _**sand**_ wich. At least Dosu knows how to make one. What are you, retarded?"

"You better not let Tayuya find out about this. She'd sack you." Sakon cautioned the dissed ninja. "Besides, we can be a bit more merciful…take out the crap and just give him the bread."

"Didn't I say that I wasn't hungry? Why the hell would I want the bread that was smeared with shit."

"Is he trying to excite sympathy? I don't see any mothers here to coddle him," Kidomaru stated in an easy tone. The rest of the jailors laughed, but Naruto didn't. Kin didn't laugh either…she wasn't present.

 **Day 8**

"You know, I don't think we've been introduced," Naruto exclaimed as best as he could. "You," he pointed at Jirōbō. "You're 'Fatass', 'cause you're so pleasantly plump and you're always eating." He then pointed at the rest in turn, from Kidomaru, Tayuya and Sakon. "You're 'Freak' cause you've got two extra arms. Makes for even more fun on those lonely nights, huh? You girl, you're 'Bitch' because of your charming personality and your cheerful words always brings a smile to everyone's face. And you…" He pointed at Sakon. "You're 'Faggot'. I mean come one, what the hell's the lipstick for? And the behavior…are you flirting with the other guys here? I want you especially, to stay on the other side of the room at all times if you have to be here. Stay where I can see you. 'Fatass', don't eat my food or I'll tell your boss that I'll starve to death before the end of the month. 'Freak', your fine, just keep your freaky hand action to yourself and 'Bitch'…" He smiled broadly. "Make my day!"

And Tayuya began to rant…

 **Day 9**

The Kunoichi of the North Gate continued to rant on and off, and always within earshot. It was getting on everyone's nerves, and Zaku who had overheard it all was still laughing to himself. Naruto shouted to all who could hear him, asking for what day it was since he had no way of telling the spanning of time in his cell, as he slept irregularly and ate at any time his jailors felt like feeding him.

But no one told him the date.

 **Day 10**

Orochimaru strode out of the cell and left, having cracked the boy's seal even more. He only needed a few more, and he'd be primed to release the Kyuubi to raze the village.

After a half hour, Tayuya nonchalantly came up to the cell and dashed a cup of urine onto him, and he sputtered. "Hey! What the hell?!"

"Jirōbō said I should act more than just cuss. I think I like the alternative."

And with that, she stalked away.

Naruto turned to Kidomaru. "Hey, buddy! Mind tossing some water on me? Wash me off?"

The four-armed ninja responded by holding up all four of his hands and flipped Naruto the bird before making his own departure.

"Damn. That's cold."

 **Day 12**

It had been all of a full dozen days since he was taken to this hell hole of a prison. He decided that if it wasn't for Orochimaru's treatments, it wouldn't be all that bad.

Today was a bid different. All of the Sound Four were gone, as well as Team Oto. They were all secure in the knowledge that he could not escape, and they were right. The scruffy boy, smelly, rank, emaciated boy who had his chakra sealed could not escape, and for all his knowledge, for all his essence, he could not escape. He had never honed his skills enough, much less for a situation like this, although he was certain that a ninja above his caliber would still be in the same position…alone and helpless.

He waited.

They were careful. No utensils, no plates. He ate dry foods or sandwiches that were fed to him on cardboard. While there was a working toilet (that stunk to high-hell) there was no way for him to wash himself, and Tayuya's piss didn't improve things. He wouldn't have been able to dodge it when she had thrown it anyways, as he had been too in pain at the time to even flinch out of the way, or room to dodge. It was a small cell, about twice the size of a cubicle. There was only the toilet, no bed. He slept on the ground.

And the cardboard that they gave to him to use as a plate... Kami, he wished they would just give him a roll of tissue to use. Enough said.

He waited.

Every time he touched the bars, he got burnt. Severely. It must have something to do with the seal on it, but he couldn't reach it from the inside. He had more than just a few burns from his attempts that had healed up, but still got infected. That cleared up after a day, but that wasn't the issue.

He waited.

He had started to doze off when he was suddenly awoken by a deluge of water splashing him against his body. As he sputtered and spat, he cleared the water from his eyes to see one of the Kunoichis seated on a small footstool. He, on impulse, began to fear that he had gotten a bucketful of piss this time, but he soon realized that it was Kin and he relaxed.

"Hey."

"You've been avoiding me," he said tersely.

She looked away, before finally answering. It wasn't in response to his accusation, as she found no way to neutralize the barb in it. "You look like you've seen better days."

"I have." He replied. "But hey, if you want to see me be better, how about you let me out so I can stretch my legs?"

"You know that even if I did, Tayuya has the key," she said calmly. "Look. I'm sorry that you ended up here, but it wasn't my fault."

"Are you trying absolve yourself of guilt? I didn't accuse you of anything. Do you know what's going to happen?"

"Other than trying to kill you?" She asked with a hint of mirth on her lips.

"Of course," he responded in a likewise manner.

"I overheard the Sound Four talking about 'cracking a seal'. Any idea on what that's about, Mr. Kyuubi Jinchuriki?"

Naruto's gaze averted from the girl to the ground. "I see. He's going to break the seal. He'll unleash the Kyuubi to destroy the village." He sighed, pondering the mess he was in. None of this would've happened if he had fled instead of staying behind to help his teammates, but nothing was promised in life. He knew that the future wasn't set in stone, and that anything could happen.

But with each day that passed, it became more and more likely that he would die and the village he grew up in would pay for his blunder.

The good of the many outweighed the good of the few, and he told this to Kin. "I should've ran away. But instead, I stayed behind and to help my teammates escape."

They were silent for a while, but Kin was the first to break it. "You chose a different path. You chose a path that you don't know anything about."

"Yes."

"Well…" She sounded as if she was choking back a small sob, and Naruto looked up to regard her. "Now you know how it feels to live like me. Not knowing which day's your last, your future is uncertain and nothing is granted."

"I know that I can escape. I just need you to open the cage, and I could take everyone down in the blink of an eye."

"Who says I'm on your side?" Kin asked calmly as she began to stand again.

"Aren't you?"

"…"

"…"

"I don't know."

 **Day 13**

"Well, have you heard? We've got our orders. We're going to go beat up the Uchiha tomorrow night. It should be interesting."

"Whatever." The Sound Four retreated to one of the back rooms, and Dosu saw it as his chance to speak to the blond alone, seeing as Zaku was napping in his own room, and Kin was nowhere about.

"So…Naruto. It's just us. Can you see the future? If you tell me, I'll make living here more comfortable for you. You know that I'm the one who's basically feeding you."

"Yeah. I know." Naruto nodded. "I got my questions about that, though. You don't know me."

"I know what's like to starve." Dosu deadpanned.

"Geez. That's dark. Fine. I'll tell you. But tell me about Kin first. And then I'll tell you if I really can or not. No beating about the bush."

Dosu looked thoughtful, as if he was trying to figure the blond out. "If you could see the future, you would know what the answer is."

"If I could foresee the future, maybe I would have known that you wouldn't tell me," The Uzumaki said simply. To which Dosu nodded while he closed his visible eye.

"She's the youngest of all of us by a couple months. From what I know, she's been orphaned…"

…

…

…

"You told me what I knew already," Naruto said at last. "But at least now I know why she is the way that she is."

"What's your answer?" Dosu asked. "Can you or can't you?"

"I **can** see the future. In exactly two minutes, Zaku will come in hollering for you to ask you where you left his ninja gear. You responded and told him that you cleaned it and left it in your room by accident."

"Well, let's count those two minutes, shall we?

…

…

…

He was not disappointed.

 **Day 14**

Night had fallen, and Naruto was alone in the room, but it wasn't for long, as Kin had found herself in front of him. "Hey. I brought you a roll of toilet paper. I've been overhearing you complain about the cardboard, so I figured-"

"You think that they're going to judge you for these small acts of kindness, Kin?"

"Yes." She answered straightaway. "I don't want to look like a sell out."

"You sold me out to Kabuto. But I didn't care. I knew that you were in a rough spot, and I tried to look past it."

The kunoichi looked uncomfortable, but the blond pressed on. "I'm going to die soon, Kin, and you know it. How's that going to rest on your conscience?"

"Don't try to ride on my emotions," she mumbled bitterly. "You're the same one who used to threaten me."

"I was bluffing. In fact, I did that because I was meant to in my visions. I'm sorry." The apology was sincere, and Kin could sense it. But he continued regardless. "I was afraid that if I didn't, you would come to find courage in yourself to fight me, and that I might lose. I only know what to do if I go along with a plan. If I hadn't, then you would have tried to fight me, and I wouldn't have known what to do. I can still hold my own, but too many risks would have come into play." He propped himself up to lean against the wall. He turned to gaze on her, and instead of the strong frenemy she had come to know, she now saw an emaciated boy who wasted away in his cell, close to giving up. "I heard that they were going after my teammate, Sasuke tonight. If they succeed, it'll mean that all I did to sacrifice myself to ensure his safety would have been for nought."

"He'll be branded with the Curse Seal. Orochimaru will probably do it tonight after he's beaten by the Sound Four."

"Kin…"

"Yeah?" She answered plainly, awaiting his say.

"Will you forgive me though? For being a prick, that is?"

"Yeah. That's fine, 'cause I realized that they were bluffs anyway." She allowed a smile to creep onto her face. "But you were scary though, I'll give you that."

"I know. I'm still as strong as you know, maybe even stronger. If I had even one kunai, and everyone was in the same room, I'm telling you, I could kill everyone in the blink of an eye. You wouldn't need to stick around with 'em anymore."

"Tempting. But I have to ask. What's the deal with you and those three auras I've seen you emit? I've seen you do a white one, a black one and grey one." She asked curiously. "I first saw it when you dragged me off into that place where you said 'only time exists' and then during the course of the exams."

Naruto started up in a shock. "You saw it?"

"Mmm hmm."

The boy's mind raced when he thought of this. Was this some kind of ability bestowed on her for being in the zone like he did? To see and know whenever he was manipulating time? "That's when I'm…controlling time."

"Can you tell me more about it?" She asked eagerly.

"My tongue might become more loose if you unlock the cage."

She wagged a finger and smiled. "Nuh uh. Nice try, though. Anyway, take care. Orochimaru's coming tomorrow."

"No honorifics?" The boy boggled.

"I never did like him. But I work for him, I keep my life. Simple."

"You're afraid to leave his employ," Naruto realized. "And between him and Kabuto and me, you were in a real jam."

"One point for the smart guy," she said sullenly. "I have to go."

 **Day 15**

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!" His deteriorating body was released from the Sannin's grasp unto the cold and damp floor, his bones jarred from the impact. Orochimaru smirked as he realized that the weakened boy would soon give up the Kyuubi from his seal…and the ghost from his body. He left the cell and clanged it shut, sealing the boy again inside.

"Well, well, Naruto. Sasuke-kun has been branded. How does it feel to know that all your efforts in the Forest of Death have gone to waste?"

The blond did not answer, but he knew what it felt like. His promise was as broken as his body, and his scruffiness was like the integrity of his words. That is, none to speak of. Even if and when he escaped, how could he face the rest of Team 7 again?

And then the man was gone.

Naruto sighed as he looked about the room, his eyes searching for anyone who was there. His eyes landed on Dosu and Kin who tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible. "Hey. What day is it?" He hailed weakly.

"It's…the tenth of October," Dosu said with difficulty, knowing that he wasn't supposed to tell their prisoner nothing of time and date. At hearing this, Naruto broke down and actually sounded like he was crying. The two Oto ninjas came forward closer to investigate, and their suspicions were right. He was, indeed, crying.

Then he began to hum. To their hearing, they had no idea what it was, and Dosu asked what was wrong.

"It's…it's my birthday today."

Kin whispered to Dosu, telling him that she was going out. That she did, and Naruto stared after her retreating form, wondering if she was cutting ties to him in his addling mind.

…

…

…

It was night when Kin arrived at the hideout once more and quickly and stealthily made her way to the cell that held her friend. Looking around to see if anyone was about, she saw none, and went forward with what she had had in mind. She placed the bowl on the ground and pushed it forward under the lowermost bars of the cell in front of the sleeping boy and hissed to him.

"Hey. Naruto…wake up!"

He jolted out of his sleep almost immediately, and looked around. "Huh? What's going on?"

"It's Kin," she introduced herself. "I got you something."

His eyes fell unto a rectangular and bento-like bowl and his eyes widened as he smelt the aroma that wafted from it. "Is that ramen?"

"Yeah." Kin smiled as he immediately began fussing over it hungrily. "Happy birthday, Naruto."

He looked up from his ministrations with chopsticks halfway, and the kunoichi actually began to sing softly:

"~Ureshii na kyou wa.  
Tanoshii na kyou wa.  
Tanjoubi omedetou~."

(~Today is a happy day.  
Today is a pleasant day.  
Happy birthday to you~.)

It was the traditional song, and she sang through it twice more. There was nothing spectacular about it, but it did carry a rustic and quaint charm to it, of all things. He ate while she sang, and he was done at the same time she was.

"Well…it's happier now. Thanks, Kin-chan."

 **This chapter was mostly dialogue and character development, and I spent the whole night on it. I started around eight pm and it's now 4:30 am. Good night/morning y'all. Later. All of six thousand and fifty words.**

 **Happy anniversary.**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Living Twice**

 **I'm back on this fic. Need I remind you that every fic gets an update in turns?  
No matter the viewership, faves, likes, communities and reviews that vary with each.  
But it is good encouragement, nonetheless.**

 **Last time, we saw Naruto get locked up in a cell deep inside an abandoned ROOT base. He's been there for fifteen days (last recorded day) and he's having his seal cracked by Orochimaru in an attempt to release the Kyuubi during the Chunin Exam Finals since Gaara is dead. Oh, and he's been treated like a Political Prisoner in Cuba during the 1980's. Yep, just like that.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. All of the rights belong to Studio Pierrot, Viz Media, Masashi Kishimoto and the like.  
I'm just a humble fanfiction writer. I'm here with this fic to implement a 'Time Idea', and to ship an uncommon girl (Kin) with the Uzumaki protagonist.**

 **21.**

 _The sky was dreary, and cloudy, indicating a sure heavy deluge of coming rain. All around him, he could see was the suffering of a multitude. People all over wept in grief, wept in fear, wept in anticipation._

 _They cried for the loss of loved ones._

 _They cried for their lives._

 _They cried knowing what would happen._

 _The village was in a state that had never been seen by one as young as he, although he was as old as the last time a catastrophe of this magnitude had occurred._

 _Everything he knew was being razed. Everyone he knew was dying. Everything he was aware of was burning._

 _He alone remained here to see the end._

 _The end._

 _That fire wasn't there.  
But he was smelling the burning people._

 _That blood was fake.  
But it ran red in the streets._

 _Those screams weren't existent.  
But he was hearing their woes._

 _This couldn't be real.  
But it was._

 _The ending was nigh, and was all because of his blunder. He could accept the consequences of his actions, if it only affected him. Why were the consequences making everyone else pay for it?_

 _Well. He tried to protect his teammates, protect Kin. But it only went to show that you couldn't save everyone._

 _He plodded though the crimson streets and tried to ignore the seeping of the lifeblood that was shed from others that dripped from his sandals with every step that he took. He meandered among the burning and crumbling rubble as he made his way to the Exam Stadium, completely on autopilot. He had no idea what kind of force pulled him here, but he kept his unblinking, bloodshot eyes open. The whole way, black and red bled in a gush from his belly, the Kyuubi gone rampant and destroying the village around him._

 _He lost count of the number of riddled, flies-infested corpses he had stepped over once he made it inside the Stadium. Still in his trance, he heard the familiar voice in his mind speak once more._

 _It was that of a man's, and what he had to say made no sense, yet complete sense at the same time:_

 _ **It's tragic and horrible, isn't it? To see trouble coming and yet not being able to do a thing about it. You just have to wait and watch it happen. Son, I'm sorry.**_

 _Naruto said nothing. He let the voice continue to speak. It didn't sound unkindly, but the matter-of-fact tone to it reminded him of himself. He disliked that; it could very well be someone like him speaking right now, and he couldn't help but think that it was his father._

 _ **I saw how to defeat the Kyuubi. I tried think of other ways, believe me. But my visions showed me how, and it turned out to be the only solution in the end. To give it my best. Heh. This sounds corny, but my best…was you. I gave it you. And after all of this, you manifested powers over time like I could too, and even better than I could. How I could defeat entire battalions in the blink of an eye, how to make other people move faster or slower and giving myself the best reaction times when using the Flying Thunder God Technique.**_

 _Naruto kept listening as he carefully went up the cracked steps, up to the Kage Booth and the rooftops above. His father was speaking; he heard. It was as simple as that._

 _ **I wished for better outcomes, but wishing isn't enough. Son, you're better than me. You take chances now. You deviate from the set paths now. It takes a brave man to venture off into the unknown. Anything could and can happen and you took the dare. There's nothing wrong with what you did, trying to help others. In fact, the only flaw…**_

 _The voice trailed off as Naruto finally got to the roof. It was there that he saw all the Hokages-_

 _The Shodaime, The Nidaime and The Yondaime, alive…yet…dead._

 _The Sandaime, however, was well and truly dead. He was impaled by a long, double-edged chokuto that had its glimmer dulled by scarlet. A trail of the self-same blood ran from between his pallid lips, and it served to signify that there was no life in him._

" _ **The only flaw",**_ _The Yondaime now stated with deep conviction to his son now that he was within earshot and gazed at him with blackened eyes._ _ **"Was giving up faith!"**_

 _As his last words were uttered, the three undead Kages collapsed apart into dust, revealing the corpses of Zaku, Dosu…_

 _And Kin._

 _He trudged over to her, tears welling up in his eyes for the first time since the beginning. This wasn't the first time he had seen this. He had seen it far too many times…far, far too many times. The waterworks turned full as he made it to where she laid among the dust and ashes from the Kages._

 _She didn't deserve this._

 _SHE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS!_

 _She didn't deserve to be in the service of Orochimaru. She didn't deserve to be a pawn for him. She didn't deserve to have to fear for her life. She didn't deserve to be used in such a horrific jutsu!_

 _He collapsed unto his knees, and ever so gently, scooped her up into his arms, her upper torso rested against him. His blurry vision rested on her face; what was previously a bonny one was now ashen, and dead eyes stared up into his._

 _Slowly, he closed them over with the palm of his hand._

 _As his tears ran like a waterfall, he didn't even observe his world around him swirl with black, white, gray and red and begin to crumble away like the ruin it was, and even Kin herself faded away with the rest of reality, making him clench his eyes shut in apprehension. Soon, it was just him who remained, kneeling in the center of infinite nothing._

 _Then he opened his red, slitted eyes and roared into eternity._

 _ **Naruto blinked.**_

The Uzumaki blinked again and realized that it was another daydream. But this reoccurring daydream was horrific…perhaps it should be called a day- _mare_ , as in the fashion of _nightmares_ , he wondered as he tried to gather his bearings.

Not that he wanted to.

The second he re-grasped his position in the land of the waking hell he was in, he regretted it. He was assaulted by the stench of the toilet behind him in the cell he was in. While he was fortunate not to have any sort of skin breaches like cuts and bruises, he still despised the things that would have given him deadly infections and septic illnesses like the stagnant water in his cell, the dark corners that invited pestilent roaches and flies and whatnot.

He tried to take his mind of things by thinking about his vision. It was baffling at first, but now, it was just getting old. The baffling factor was still there, though.

It had been nine days since his birthday in this filthy place, and a grand total of twenty-four days. The exam was in six more, and he was no closer to getting out. Sitting here in the cell, whiling his days by annoying his jailers (Tayuya and Zaku, for instance), quietly converse with Dosu and Kin whenever a chance happened by, eat sandwiches for meals and wait for Orochimaru every five days to make his life harder to bear.

Considered suicide? More than once, but he was too much of a coward to go through with it. Even if he did, he had no means of doing it, short of pissing off one of his guards enough for them to kill him themselves.

Ever since Orochimaru started tampering with the seal from day one, his abilities to control time in his vicinity had started to go haywire. It had nothing to do with chakra, but still, it did so nonetheless. There was something about the Kyuubi's influence that was….well, _influencing_ it. On some days, it lasted longer when he experimented, other days, it wouldn't work at all.

It worried him.

Now, all he had left that he could rely on were his nightly _fore-experience_ and the same vision in his waking hours _over_ and _over_ again.

The ghastly sights, symbolic gestures, the warnings from his father-…what was up with that? Seeing this, his eyes were open to the normal viewpoint and yet, seeing these visions. They were always the same thing. He was prepared to ignore that he was seeing his father and realizing that his suspicions were right, but the message was applying to the here and now.

At least he knew that it was his father that was the one with the ability. The Yondaime. It perfectly explained the man's prowess with the ability, and how he could use the **Hiraishin** so well. Knowing what to do, when to do it and slowing time and stopping it while zipping around with the technique was a sure-fire way to become known as a man that should 'not be engaged, FLEE ON SIGHT'. But why tell him the vague things that he did? Why tell him that he had 'given up'? He hadn't! Right?

Yet, he was still in the cell. He **had** given up. He had done so once he had stopped thinking of ways he could possibly escape, to start believing that no one was coming for him, to find and release him.

Suffice to say, it was that bleak.

"Naruto? You alright?"

"Huh?" Naruto did a double-take to clear his mind of cobwebs before he turned to face whoever was present. "Dosu? What do you want?"

"I've got your breakfast right here. Bread and egg." He pushed forward an egg sandwich on a sheet of cardboard, and checking to see if anyone was about, also pushed inside a plastic cup of orange juice. "So…"

"So…" Naruto parroted as he took the food, and appreciated the Oto nin's gesture of giving him something he wasn't allowed to, that is, the beverage. He drank the juice first-…he knew it was alright.

"You must know why I'm here. Can you tell me about it? Is it a good thing?"

Naruto shrugged as he picked up before the egg sandwich. "No. He marked the three of you out because he thinks you're expendable, or that's what I'll hear later on 'cause Kidomaru's talking too loud. You're going to die," he said nonchalantly, before he bit into it. He tried to ignore the teen's reaction to the news while he chewed his food, but it was too disturbing; he had to stop. "I've seen things. I don't know much of the details that are really going to happen, but if I'm right, then the three of you are going to die from what he has planned. He's going to sacrifice you. You, Zaku, and Kin-chan." He tried to sound as if it was nothing big, but to him, the fact that Kin was going to perish was killing him inside.

"Hmm…Kin-chan, huh?" Dosu mumbled. "Are you **that** familiar with her?"

"I've been using the affectionate for more than a week, so…yeah, pretty familiar."

"So…she's going to die...I'm going to die... **We're** going to die, **you're** going to die. We _all_ die, and you probably know how and when it happens."

Naruto nodded sadly in answer. What could he say?

" _How can you live like this?!_ " Dosu lost his temper and yelled at the scruffy boy who lived in his cell.

Said boy only sighed. "I've been like this for years now. When you get to know how everything happens, nothing surprises you anymore. It sucks the joy out of the good things in life, and doubles the trouble you have to go through. You think I like it? Sure, I can appreciate the warnings, but at this point, it's safe to say that I haven't been in here for twenty-four days. I've been in here for practically _forty-eight_ days."

The Oto nin tried to calm himself, seeing the boy's apathetic nature. "I've seen you two, getting all cosy and whatnot with each other. If you care so damn much, why not try to do something that'll stop this madness for her sake?"

For once, Naruto didn't know what to say for what should have been an easy answer to a simple question. Wasn't it in the affirmative? But one thing didn't sit right with him. Why did Dosu care so much about this? Was he also as eager to live as Kin? Coward men keep sound bones; the adage was true, but for her sake?

He was going to deviate from what he was meant to do today. He went out on his own terms, and spoke out of the turn he was supposed to.

"I was in Wave with my team. We were supposed to guard a Bridge Builder. His name was 'Tazuna'." Naruto settled in to regale his tale to the teen jailer, and he went on and on until he reached the part where he had encountered Haku. He was careful to leave out the criticalities that would lead him and her to never have met each other, and his error in un-adhering to the fore-experience. He also left out how he killed her...such a thing should never be brought up.

"So, imagine. She's basically like Kin. Senbon needles, complexion. Hell, even the same hairstyle. But no one's really like Kin. If it had to be one physical trait that Kin has that no one else has, it's the hair length, dattebayo."

"I get that." Dosu answered, while urging him to continue. 'Mine was going to get there, but it's not growing any further.'

"I was lying down on the ground, asleep. Call it a way of showing blind faith that she'd wake me up. She didn't. She tried to stab me through my neck. Maybe she would've succeeded if I hadn't known that she'd do it."

"If you knew she would have tried to kill you, then why'd you even let her get close to you? Dumb move, if you ask me."

"Exactly why I didn't ask you. Any sane person would say that I had lost my mind by doing something like that, and Haku was behaving as if she lost hers. Working for a master who didn't really care for her. She knew, too. She called herself 'his tool'. She knew she was being used by him, and she didn't care. She just wanted to get the job done to stay in his good graces, although Zabuza didn't really have any."

...

From where she sat and leaned backwards against the closed door, concealed from view and detection, Kin listened to her teammate and her 'friend' converse with her eyes closed in contemplation. She was eavesdropping, but she supposed it was alright; they were talking about her. But then again, there was a proverb about those who listened at doors and from behind trees; it taught the lesson that people who eavesdropped heard bad opinions about themselves.

Now, as she heard about this 'crazy Haku' and connected the similarities between Zabuza and Orochimaru, Haku and herself, she decided that the proverb was true. Was she really like that?

It was only her and Dosu who were here today. Everyone else had gone about their own business, deciding that they had better things to do than keep the company of their prisoner. It was almost like a rule; workers only made themselves look busy when their bosses were around. When they weren't, they just did their own thing. Thus why Dosu and Naruto could talk in peace about sensitive subjects.

Talk about _her_.

If she was more loyal to Orochimaru, she'd shut them down, maybe even drop a hint to the rogue Sannin and he'd finish them off. If she were more loyal to Naruto, she'd spring him from his cell, and they'd make a run for it, somehow, somewhere.

As it were, she was straddling the fence between the sides, and it was getting extremely painful to see Naruto day in and day out rotting in his cell.

It was also getting frosty between her and the rest of the Oto ninjas when they heard about how Naruto tried to get chummy with her. And now, to hear what he said to Dosu that their number was up, it was all she could do to keep her heart from becoming tremulous while her mind tried to leap the borders of insanity.

...

"I keep on trying to give her chances. She kept going all out, and I kept pulling my punches. She was wicked strong, too. She was a Kekkei Genkai holder, too. She had the Hyoton; she could make anyone respect the **Ice Release**. I was just showing blind faith; I kept _hoping_ that she'd just take my offer of peace and just leave. I was on the defensive, but sad to say, it didn't really end that way. It's a sad, sad thing when you offer up the best things about yourself, and the person refuses to give you theirs."

"Oh?" Dosu squinted his visible eye. "And the best thing you have to offer was...?"

"We don't live in a safe, perfect world that makes sense. We live in a world where we kill people for a living, and the only way to be guaranteed safety is to be the strongest. We live in a world where we're always vying to destroy one another, and the good human traits are dying out. As it is, I only have one good human trait in me, and it's _faith_."

"That's your best?" Dosu lifted an eyebrow in confusion now.

"Yeah. Sad to say, I'm starting to lose it." Naruto tried to picture Kin in his mind's eye, but kept recalling the sight of her dead from his haunting visions. He shuffled over to what he believed was the cleanest corner in his dirty cell, the one farthest away from the toilet and the pests. "I'm starting to lose it."

From her vantage point, Kin realized that it had all come to a close. Quietly getting up, she dusted herself off and walked away, truly lost in thought, and the desires of conscience.

 **=X=X=**

"Well, damn. I still don't know how I die," he muttered. "At the end of it all, I just see everything happen. Doesn't that mean that I'm alive to see it? How the hell am I supposed to live if the Kyuubi escapes? There's no way to live after that, right? Am I a special case?"

"Well, do you think that if you keep asking yourself, that you'll suddenly figure out the answers?"

Naruto was startled into awareness; his eyes took in nearly everything at once before it settled on the Oto Kunoichi who stood outside of his cell. However, unlike most times, she stood within arm's reach of the bars, when she was always just out of reach. Although he had become familiar with her, it had been a sort of unspoken rule. To stand within arm's reach of a prisoner in his cell was always a volatile situation. Something was up. "Oh. Hi, Kin-chan. Why do I have the pleasure?"

"Hey Naruto. Um...you look like you've lost weight?"

"Well, that's a hell of a polite way to say that I'm malnourished. Thank Kami for Dosu's small graces, though. The only reason I get _real_ food from time to time, besides the crap from Zaku and the Sound Four."

She rolled her eyes at this with a smirk. "Whatever." However, her smirk fell when he got up and came out of the dark region of his cell and approached the bars where she was, and the light of the lone bulb was cast on him. Her heart lurched when she saw how emaciated he looked; his naturally tanned-looking complexion was starting to pale, and his ribs were beginning to show. His cheeks were starting to sink in and other such evidence showed that he would soon be on his last legs, but other things were pressing. Very, important things.

His eyes were red and slitted, like a cat's pupil. Even his cheek whiskers looked farm more deeply etched, and his teeth, of more specifically, his canines, were fangs. The seal on his gut which was of a spiral with complex kanji now looked horribly twisted. No doubt about it; Orochimaru was getting what he wanted. The seal was breaking, and it didn't take even a sealing novice to know that a seal looking like that could ever function properly. It could even be in a state past the hope of repair. Even his voice sounded like it had a demonic strain to it.

"What're you staring at?" He asked innocently, as if he didn't know how he looked. In actuality, he really didn't know.

"N...nothing!" She cried hastily, not wanting to worry him. Maybe he really was right. They really were doomed. But just now, he was startled when he saw her. "Hey, do you know what's going to happen for the rest of the day? Damn, I mean 'night'? Sun's about to set."

"It's almost night? You can't ask me that, 'cause I got no real sense of time in here." He answered plainly, trying to doge her question about his current ignorance of what could and would happen. "But it doesn't matter, anyway." He looked away and sighed deeply. He could tell that he was close to his breaking point. Not physically, because he was sure that with a bit of sustenance, he could bounce back easily. He was breaking mentally. And his frequent vision of the Exam Finals was close to pushing him over the edge. "Kin-chan, you need to get out of here. Get out of this hideout, out of the village, out of Orochimaru's clutches; I don't care how you do it. You just **have** to," he pleaded.

So yeah. He was giving up. But he wasn't giving up on her. At the very least, he'd sleep more soundly knowing that-

"No." She said flatly.

"What? Why?" The Uzumaki was dumbfounded. Did he have to tell her the reason? He didn't mean to come off as ordering her, but she had to realize that he was warning her! This was all for her!

She had a strange look on her face, and he had to ponder what was going on. "Kin-chan? What's wrong?"

"I overheard you and Dosu talking today. You were going on how I was like this 'Haku' girl. Was that what this was all about? Trying to stop a repeat of her when you saw me?"

"That's another reason, sure." He shook his head violently. "But never mind that, you need to get out while the getting's good!" His eyes shifted to her neck where it levelled off between the shoulder-blades, where he saw some sort of tattoo, depicting the kanji for 'EMBODIMENT'. He shivered; she was as good as dead, and the path had already been set for the occurrence of the events of his vision. "Kin-chan, I've seen how this all ends, and it's not changing! We've...no... _you_ -"

"I get it. I'm going to die." She cut him off. "Funny. This whole time, I've been afraid of it, and now that I'm hearing about it, I feel strangely...at **ease** about it. Maybe because..."

"..." He waited on her with bated breath.

"I know it's not going to happen _today_..." She said determinedly. With complete decisiveness, she removed the tag off of the key lock and removed the key for the cell from her pocket and stabbed it into the lock. Naruto's eyes widened as she spoke again, repeating what he had said earlier, and altered certain words to suit her purposes. "Naruto-kun, _**I**_ don't need to get out of here. _**I**_ don't need __to get out of this hideout, out of the village, out of Orochimaru's clutches..." She unlocked the cell, stepped inside and seized him by the shoulders. There, she looked deeply into his eyes, and told him the finisher. " _ **We**_ are _ **.**_ "

Apprehension grew in him, although this was what he had wanted all along. "But I don't _**know**_ what to do..."

"For once, I guess you're going to be the one who'll have to go along with whatever someone else planned. Now c'mon!" Her right hand fell to his wrist, and she used her left one to gesture to the wooden door that signalled the exit. "Let's go!"

He yielded easily to her as she pulled on him. Not just physically, but also mentally; only in a more deep-seated manner. This had been the first time in nearly a singular month (without fore-experience) that he had felt the touch of another human being. For the psychological bit, he had hardly had anyone to ever be concerned about him. Their fellowship in his 'chrysalis' for Kekkei Genkai evolution, quiet conversations leading up to the exam's beginning, camaraderie in his days of imprisonment and...his birthday! She was the first person to help him celebrate his birthday, even though she had known about the Kyuubi.

Was his meeting her a matter of chance? Or was it predestined? With such a thing as his talents, he supposed that destiny and fate was real.

And now, despite her fear of their common enemy, she was setting him loose from his death-row.

He was allowing himself to be pulled by her, just focusing on moving his legs, on autopilot. Her direction would dictate the rest-...besides; he didn't really know where he was going. He had woken up unconscious in his cell from day one, after all.

They ran up the stairs to a singular door, and she hurriedly turned the knob so they could proceed through. It was there that the Uzumaki's eyes widened as he took in the sight of everyone-...Dosu, Zaku, Sakon, Tayuya, Jirobo and Kidomaru, all slumped in various places around the room with spilled plates and bowls, but mostly centered around a rectangular table, one that anyone would presume was used for dining. "Did you _poison_ them?"

"Yeah. Dosu was cooking." She said easily enough; the killing of her teammates was bothering her, yes, but she'd deal with that later. "I just dropped some arsenic from my poison cache in that stew he was making."

"You do realize that he tends to feed me whatever the others get to eat..." He commented lowly.

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to you, Naruto-kun. Now double-time it!" They hurried got through the room to the door on the far side, where they exited and ran up more stairs. "I needed the key from Tayuya anyways, and I couldn't have everyone walking and talking while getting it from her. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah. I know." He got a flash of a vision from the Exam Finals, and the Sound Four were still there, along with Dosu and Zaku on Kin still being used as the sacrifices. 'But they're dead. Something's not right..."

He saw the glint of moonlight through a crack in the ceiling, and welcoming the distraction from his inner turmoil, he smiled as the cracks became more and more frequent as he eyed what looked like a trap door in the ceiling that the stairs led to. 'Nah, who cares? I'll figure something out later! Damn, I took all of this for granted!'

He wasn't really living for a long time, but he was now.

They finally ascended the last tier of steps, and she pushed open the trap door. The light of a full moon washed over them, and his smile grew into a grin. His rescuer climbed up first on the small ladder, and once at the top, she lay down to stretch a hand inside to help pull him up. He didn't quite need it that much, but he didn't care.

He was free.

 **=X=X=**

Kin opened her eyes, starting awake. She glanced around her room, trying to gather her bearings. "What the...that was… that felt so _real_. That was one messed up dream..." She got up off of her futon, and looked at herself in the mirror. This felt like a surreal experience. Was...was that some strange kind of vision?"

The door behind her was open abruptly, and Zaku stuck his head in. "Oi, Kin. Dosu's making stew. It's going to be done in a few minutes, and everyone else is going to go get some. If you don't go, you won't get any. You know how Jirobo gets when he's hungry."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved at him as he closed the door and left. She, however, broke out into cold seat. 'Damn! That's just like my dream! What the hell?! He said the same exact thing, did the same exact thing! I even answered him the same way!'

This felt so much like something was happening…again. Déjà vu slammed into her psyche. 'How...is this some kinda manifestation of Naruto-kun's ability? Wait...did I just say Naruto-kun? Holy Kami, I'm losing it..." She stroked her forehead. 'Something strange is going on.'

Then her eyes fell on her holster on the dresser tabletop where she kept her poison cache for her senbon. This was the same thing that happened in the dream right? She just gravitated towards it.

Naruto had spoken about how he just did what he foresaw was the right thing. If he foresaw the right thing, then...

She took out the liquid arsenic canister out of the holster. She knew what she needed to do.

 **Yeah, I just did that. What? You thought I wouldn't?**

 **Well, the ending was crazy. I never saw it coming. Originally, it was supposed to be Naruto waking up in his cell and the first half of their conversation repeats before he realizes that he had dreamt it and that he was experience it for real. Instead, you're seeing that it was Kin that dreamt it...meaning...you guessed it!**

 **Do you know how many STORIES I could write with the PLAN A's and the PLAN B's I do? I write a plot before hand, (by chapter most of the time) and yet when I start typing the chapter, it runs away from me and does NOT follow the plan, or exactly like it. Like Lassoed with a Rope-Dart. It ran away for the whole time, although people liked it. Only this fic and Breaking Limits had stayed (mostly) to the plan, but all the multiple deviations. Damn.**

 **Anyway, I hope that this potential-plot-breaker is one you liked. Besides that, would anyone like to see me post author's notes in an independent fic that shows plans leading up to now for all stories and how they stuck to plan or deviated from it? Just let me know if you do.**

 **Goodbye everyone/Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Living Twice**

 ***Looks in Document Manager, notices that chapter 21 had been deleted automatically, indicating more than 90 days had passed since the last update.***

" **Aw, shit."**

 **And that's how my day started. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the chapter and forgive me instead of tracking me down and murdering me with an axe.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Kin tried her best not to betray any feelings of trepidation in her gait or facial expressions as she walked into the small mess hall where Dosu was just finishing up his hastily thrown together stew. He was no chef, but he always thought of himself as a 'damned good cook'. However, it was no secret that it bolstered his ego when people ate whatever he prepared and could admit (even out loud) that he knew what he was doing.

So the Oto Kunoichi wasn't really surprised when her cohort called her over as soon as he saw her to ask her if she could sample it to see if it was fine before dishing it out to the rest of the Orochimaru's subordinates. Taste-testing. Simple.

In the _fore-experience_ and even now, that didn't surprise her. What would have surprised her was if he hadn't asked her to sample it. He was always asking her. It was probably sexist of him to think that every meal would probably taste better with the recommendations or the 'touch' of a woman. Except for Tayuya, maybe. She might have just snorted a loogie in the pot instead. In fact, she had already done so once to ruin a meal to express her annoyance at his request and he had never asked her again.

"Yeah, sure," she said evenly, hoping she didn't sound nervous.

He stepped aside to allow her passage to where the pot was sitting on the aged stove and watched her as she ladled out a small amount of the stew into a small dish and tasted it. In her mind, she was hardly focused on any drawbacks that the meal might have; instead, she was far more worried about actually going through with poisoning those she could call her peers and colleagues. How many of them were actually loyal to the Snake Sannin because they wanted to, she didn't know. Zaku was a definite one in that bunch, as he had submitted himself over to scientific experiments like surgically implanting tubes in his hands. Kin knew herself to be a part of this side because her life demanded that she do it. Dosu was most likely conned just like her back in the Land of Rice.

Everyone else, though...they were probably here of their own volition. But she had no right to even assume that. In fact, they probably believed that she was loyal to Orochimaru. She used to think that she didn't. Now she _knew_ that she wasn't.

'Am I really going to go through with this?' She fretted. 'I-...I'm going to poison them, aren't I? I have to do it! To save Naruto-kun!'

There it was again. She had really tied the affectionate male term to his name.

Affectionate, huh? She felt like laughing. She now had feelings for him now that were so strong that she'd even consider poisoning her colleagues? Was there no other way to do this?

'If I want that key to his cell and none of them trying to kill me while doing it, to get out easily while they're all dead with no effort, I have to!' She screamed mentally. She was a contained storm in her own mind, and Dosu couldn't even tell from her calm expression.

"So? What do you think?" He asked gruffly, nearly scaring her into thinking he was on to her and she hadn't even attempted anything.

"Hmm..." She pretended to hem and haw. "You chopped up green seasoning in this, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Everything's in there, ain't it?"

"Powder seasoning? Salt maybe? Tastes kinda bland." A shock came to her when she realized that she had spoken without thinking and yet the conversation had happened just like in her dream; completely unintentional. 'This is how Naruto-kun experiences things?! Not even five minutes and déjà vu is already about to drive me insane! Wait, what comes next? His grounded pimento seasoning! Right?!'

"Hmm...I must've forgotten the damned pimento, again," he thought aloud. "Kin, mind putting in some more salt while I go get it?"

So it was foreseen, so it shall be. Exactly as she dreamt, he had asked her to put in salt. It was so easy. Even more so, he would trust her to put in the right amount without watching her. He could be jealous with how he cooked with the others and wouldn't allow anyone else to even get so much as a taste until it was ready and dished out. He trusted her that much and it sickened her to know that she was getting ready to use it against him and poison him along with the rest.

It started and carried on as if it was an automatic script. He turned his back and went to the cupboards. She was right before the pot and the salt was sitting in its little wooden bottle right next to it. She took it up and shook out what she believed was the right amount.

Now, according to her _fore-experience_ , she had all of thirty seconds to throw in her poison. Thirty seconds was enough time to just throw in 600 grams of the arsenic like in her dream, won't it? This wasn't like ordinary poison like tabun (which typical Kunoichis used) that caused paralysis, but nothing extraordinary either like the rumored 'most lethal poison' that stained the notorious blade of the Kusanagi was in Orochimaru's possession. But a whole canister of her poison in an average stew pot of this size was still fairly overkill, as 300 milligrams was deadly in thirty minutes for a man. It absorbed into the blood slowly by battle standards; around a half-hour or so. Maybe she should mix in her Tabun poison…? And what about the taste of the poison?!

'Nah, that has a taste! Arsenic's taste can be covered up with salt easily! Just dump the poison, Kin!' She screamed at herself mentally. She hesitated. This was what was supposed to happen, right? She was wasting time. She just had to dump the two-thirds of her arsenic cache of around 1000 milligrams into the damn pot! Just enough to be deadly and not enough to give a taste! 'Throw it!'

Fifteen seconds in total passed. In order to follow the plan and perhaps delay her decision a bit more, she quickly ladled out her own share out of the food. Now it was twenty-five seconds out of thirty that had flown and Dosu was on his way over with the pimento. She had only five seconds to make up her mind or abandon her decision. Only five seconds. Just enough time necessary to choose either way and yet all the time in the world in her mind to consider the options.

She thought of her comrades. These comrades who she'd accomplished missions with. She didn't have them in too high a regard, but she did have a fairly decent one of Dosu. He was one of the first persons she came in contact with back in the Land of Rice, and he was the only one still alive. He was the closest thing to a friend to her in this twisted organization and he trusted her.

She thought of Naruto. This boy she had mixed experiences with in the past. Funny…now that she thought about it, they had a twisted relationship. Now that she thought about it, he knew her in his dreams before she even knew him. It could sound romantic but certainly wasn't the issue. When they first started out, he was her quarry. He was assigned to her; she was to investigate him, gauge his abilities. Now knowing of his affinity to know the future because she might possibly share in it, he was on a completely on a different level of any other ninja in existence, strong in his own way. His abilities had even increased and he wielded them over Time itself. He now had sensitivity towards her. All the femme in her told her that. She didn't know why, but even more so, she knew that she had gained sensitivity to him as well, despite trying her best to hide it; especially from her peers. This one person had been enough to shake any standings she had for Otogakure and Orochimaru, and her first real friend in a long time. Even while in her dream, he had wanted her to escape on her own, to leave him behind. It was a sign that he had her own safety in higher regard than his own life.

Then a new thought came to mind; the 'Haku' person that Naruto had been talking to Dosu about…was she really like her? Unable to think for herself? Always wanting to be subservient? She was going to die anyway, wasn't she? That's why she had the 'Embodiment' tattoo on her. Orochimaru had plans for her, Dosu and Zaku. Even Naruto had an ill reaction in the dream when he saw it. She was expendable and she would be spent and done with by the end of the Chunin exams.

Why was she hesitating?

Now, Dosu was almost upon her as she finally made up her mind. She crinkled the packet of arsenic and started to sprinkle in the toxic element without heeding her dream's amount but had to abandon when he was nearly to the point of looking over her shoulder. "Yo Kin, done putting in that salt?"

She was nearly startled out of her wits. "Yeah! Yeah!" She hurriedly started to stir the stew to get rid of the white powder of arsenic that laid on top of the stew to get the stuff to dissolve. "I tasted it again while I stirred. Tastes fine. I already shared my own before Jirobo comes to get his. You got that pimento?"

"You talk too much." He waved her off, not even noticing that her sweat wasn't just caused by the heat of the stove but mostly from nervousness and fear that he was on to her plot. "But you've got a point. I already sent our teammate to go tell the others. I better ladle out mine, too."

She acquiesced and gratefully took her chance to leave. Now that she had done the deed, no matter how both sides might have good and bad to it, his eyes seemed to have been accusing her. She supposed it was guilt. He didn't really suspect what she had done and hopefully, he never would.

But now she'd have to eat with the others. How she was going to do that with a clean conscience, she had no idea. But she did she put in the right amount? She had no time to check the cache if she had put in too much, not enough or the correct volume. She didn't even see Dosu pull down his bandages halfway to sample the stew and make a face, although one could hardly tell from the rest of the bandages on his face.

"Meh. I wonder if the pimento made that aftertaste...I probably shouldn't have put in so much."

 **=X=X=**

"So you decided to join us for once, eh?" Tayuya remarked with a sneer. "Finally decided that you like to be with us instead more than with your _boyfriend_ , eh?"

"Don't be stupid, Tayuya." Kin said in a voice she believed was calm. However, Tayuya heard a bit of a strain and grinned.

"You _think_ we are."

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty. Now shut up and let me eat in peace," Kidomaru drawled. Noting that they actually listened to him, he patted himself on the back mentally. 'Huh. Two points.'

They continued to eat in silence but this only served to make Kin nervous and wish for someone to fill it. Soon enough, someone did. It only served to make her regret it:

"Yo, Dosu," Jirobo started. "This stew's got a bit of an aftertaste. Almost bitter, even."

Dosu tasted it as well, but he had been hoping no one else would notice. It basically counted as a fail in his book. "Must be the damn oregano. Must've put too much in the stew." The back of his mouth felt like it tightened a bit but ignored it. Could have been the temperature, he thought, so he cooled the food on his next bite.

"Nah, man. Oregano is slightly bitter but has a bit of sweetness in it too…You put in anything else that could give it a slightly bitter aftertaste too?"

Kin cursed in her mind. Arsenic had a slightly bitter taste. Was the dream wrong? Was _she_ wrong? In her dream, they didn't find out about the taste, but she hadn't hesitated either when it was time to put in the poison. Had she botched things? 'Goddamn foodies. Can't they just eat it?!'

"Well, I did put in some time. And maybe I put in too much pimento. I might need more than second opinions next time." He looked like he was in thought. "Maybe it's an off-day for me."

"Well, it can't always be perfect." Kin sought to console, hoping he'd just keep quiet about it. He did, but all she did was just cause Zaku to speak up about seasoning too, and since it was about Naruto, it couldn't be good.

"Hey, you two. Remember how that Uzumaki guy used to give us problems? Heh. I still need to pay him back. You guys were talking about seasoning and it reminded me about how that prick threw salt and pepper into my eyes."

"We'll give him a good fucking thrashing before Orochimaru comes back," Tayuya remarked casually as if she had wanted to do so for a long time.

"Might be expecting it," Zaku mumbled. "Kabuto had her at knifepoint before she spilt her guts about what she knew about the kid."

"About what?" Sakon asked. Dosu and Kin tried to signal Zaku to shut him up before he could answer but he either didn't notice or he ignored it.

"The guy can see the future. That's how he's so good at fighting using simple shit."

The table fell silent. Kin was filled with anxiety, wondering what was going to develop next when suddenly, Kidomaru began to laugh, followed by the rest of the Sound Four, so much so that Tayuya nearly snorted her water. Kin remained quiet. Dosu was also quiet, as he wondered why his muscles had started to ache.

"Hah! That's the best fucking one I've heard all month!" The redhead yelled while she pointed her spoon at the Abumi. "That's impossible!"

"I'm telling the damn truth!" Zaku yelled. Kin breathed a sigh of relief. They must have thought him to be lying.

"No, I believe you," Tayuya said evenly as the mirth dried up out of her voice. "I don't know what the rest of my fuckin' idjit teammates are laughing about but what I'm laughing is about Kin probably switching sides, at least thinking about it. Does Orochimaru-sama know about this?"

Kin's eyes visibly widened. She had thought that business was dealt with but now if these of her colleagues believed that she was, she might as well go fully traitor. She had long taken into consideration that Kabuto hadn't told Orochimaru what he had found out, deciding that he'd capitalize on the fact for his own and possibly try to get Naruto's ability for himself. Hence why he died to Naruto in the Forest of Death and Orochimaru none the wiser.

But now, it had cropped up again.

"I don't think he knows. But if he did and Kin's still alive, he mightn't even care." This came from Sakon. He spooned more food into his mouth and upon swallowing, realized that there was now a new taste. 'Huh. That taste…'

"Damn, the hell is with this stew? Starting to taste like the times I get a cut in my mouth. This…metallic taste, kinda," Kidomaru complained.

"Metallic?" Before she could continue, muscles in her arm suddenly seized up and she bent her metal spoon nearly in two. Almost immediately following, Dosu collapsed sideways from his seat in pain, poison creating his turmoil. Others convulsed in pain but Tayuya was the last to fall out of her chair. "Poison-!" She scream-whispered, but it was too late as others began to fall out of their own chairs as well. Save for Jirobo, that is.

Said ninja actually swallowed the bit of food that was already in his mouth before he reacted. "Poison? Who's the trash that-" He almost fell out of his chair, but he righted himself quickly. Kin realized that his metabolic rate was different for his size, as did the amount of poison he received was equal to the others; he wasn't going to keel over like the rest of them. With that in mind and adrenaline already pumping and blood rushing through her ears so loud that she was nearly deafened by her own heart rate, she slipped out of her chair to search Tayuya's limp form. Jirobo finally took notice of the one person who wasn't affected as badly and roared shakily. "TRASH!"

"This is NOT like the dream!" Kin mumbled furiously as she felt for any pockets the red was supposed to have. She could hear Jirobo's unsteady footsteps as he approached her and like a bad dream, Tayuya reacted to the girl searching her.

"Kin-?!" The girl growled but was too weak to move. "Get your shitty hands out of my pockets and go take a flying fuck off of a cliff you-"

"Shut up, Tayuya!" Kin yelled fiercely. She finally found the key in Tayuya's weapon holster where she kept her flute and yanked it out. As she was about to back away from the redhead's prone form, said girl yanked her arm by the wrist.

"Let go of me, Tayuya!" Kin pulled on her arm back hard and fortunately, she loosened it from the grip of the irate girl who was badly weakened.

"Crush her, Jirobo!" The Kunoichi of the North Gate hissed to the burly teen behind Kin. The long-haired brunette looked behind her in fear to see the giant of a teen about to bring his fists down onto her in an axe-handle move. Kin had the presence of mind to dive out of the way but she landed crookedly only a short distance away that gave her a dull ache in her side. She got up to her feet quickly and dashed out of the mess hall, hoping that they'd just expire by the time she had to pass through again with Naruto. She didn't quite bet on Jirōbō chasing after her, though. Despite him being weakened, Kin decided it would have made more sense to run for her life.

So she did.

Left alone and worse off than his dying compatriots, Dosu cursed bitterly. He suspected that she had done something, but when he had seen the white stuff on top of the stew before she stirred it away out of sight, he had believed it was the salt he had asked her to put in. 'Damn it! It must have been fuckin' arsenic! Kin-! What the hell are you doing?!' His eyes rolled beneath his closed eyelids erratically and his stomach cramped him. 'How do I get out of this-?! Think!'

It wasn't looking too good. If he could be experiencing so many symptoms of the poison already, it may have well been too late. Even more so, there was probably the rest of his meal that had gone undigested as yet and it would more than likely finish him off.

'Goddamn!' He cracked his visible eye open. 'I'm gonna have to vomit out whatever's in my stomach-! Think, Dosu, think for Kami's sakes!' His mind raced as he tried to think of a way to induce vomiting. It was then that he recalled his personal weapon- his gauntlet, the Melody Arm.

"Aw geez." He gurgled. "Never thought the day would come that I'd use this thing on myself." He readied himself for the disgusting feeling of nausea and activated the sound-utilising weapon.

It's a good thing he'd removed the bandages from the lower half of his face for his dinner earlier or it would have been an even messier situation.

 **=X=X=**

It was only muscle-memory that saved the brunette kunoichi from slamming her body into walls in the semi-darkness of the corridors. She cursed the sparse light that was set up that barely warded off the dark and wondered if she was faring off better than the lummox of a ninja who was chasing after her. By all the ruckus he was raising and the sounds of crumbling rubble that was the proof of his body smashing into rock and concrete, it was more like it was the corridors that weren't faring off well. If he could do what he was doing to solid walls and did it to her instead, there was no question that she was going to end up with a few broken bones…at best.

She took it as a warning to stay ahead of him. _Far_ ahead of him.

"Come back here, you traitorous trash!"

Obviously deciding that it was safer to disobey, she ran on ahead, fingering the key she had looted from Tayuya. It had sealing work on it but besides that, it was a fairly ordinary key. As her mind ran on the key, she recalled that she had talked with him (Naruto) briefly before unlocking him. In the dream, he had been sleeping and all and she was certain she would have no time for pleasantries.

"Naruto-kun!" She yelled loudly, her voice carrying through the corridors ahead of her, "you'd better wake up and get ready to get out while the getting's good!"

Further on in the room ahead of the corridor, Naruto sat, trying to wrap his head around the visions he'd been having. "Well, damn. I still don't know how I die," he muttered. "At the end of it all, I just see everything happen. Doesn't that mean that I'm alive to see it? How the hell am I supposed to live if the Kyuubi escapes? There's no way to live after that, right? Am I a special case?"

It was then that the distant shakings and trembling became too much to ignore and he heard Kin's seemingly far-off shout. "Huh? What's that? Kin-chan?" He got to his feet and approached the bars of his cell, trying to look out without setting off the heating augment of the jail's bars. He had suffered too many burns from it to let his healthy fear of it go unheeded. He wasn't seeing enough either way but he tried to analyze what had been shouted from his memory. "Get out?"

Hope blossomed in him for the first time once he heard it, yet he was afraid that he was mistaken. How could Kin manage to free him from his keep? And what was all that thunderous shaking about?

Soon enough, Kin finally revealed herself from the dark passageway. "Naruto-kun?! You up?"

He gave his most intelligent answer.

"Huh?"

She nearly rolled her eyes in exasperation but held off; the current situation wouldn't allow it. "Aw, geez." She ripped off the seal that covered the key lock (that had also made the bars too hot to handle) before she then stabbed the key into the hole, anxious to unlock him so that they could escape. Before she could turn it, however, Jirōbō bounded from the tunnels and gave her an elbow charge for her trouble.

She yelled her hurt before she slammed into the back wall. She could feel like something had already been busted where he had gotten her in her side; she couldn't possibly weather his attacks and they both knew it.

"Kin-chan!" Naruto reacted in mixed emotions about the situation. Everything was happening so fast-…'That's it!' He cried aloud in thought. He anxiously tried to initiate one of his special abilities to stop time for everything else within his radius but he failed. He made a second attempt, a third one and even tried to settle for just slowing it, he continued without no success. "Damn it! Why isn't this working?!"

In the meanwhile, Kin wasn't faring off none too well, but she was at least faster than the poisoned Oto Ninja of the South gate. She dodged his attacks all the while, even in the rather enclosed room. In fact, there came a point that she was nearly bouncing off the walls just to keep out of her foe's clutches and this only made Naruto fret more. "Work! STOP! STOP, DAMN-IT-ALL!"

" **You're unclean…"** A voice whispered. **"** _ **You're**_ _ **unclean, little Namikaze…"**_

"What the fu…" He looked around widely, wondering if there was a new person in the room but he saw none. Suddenly anxious that they were in the cell with him since they sounded like they were whispering and he could hear, he tried to unlock himself from the cell by reaching his hand around the bars to the other side. He was barely able to but any progress in turning the key was golden. The faster the better, though. "Who said that?!" He growled. Finally realizing who it could possibly be, his eyes widened. However, he didn't halt his progress. "Kyuubi?!"

" **The one and only."** It spoke evenly, although it sounded like it had a bit of excitement in an undertone as if it was eagerly awaiting something. **"This body now has an excess of Yin. My Yin, Namikaze runt. You have no power over time if your 'Essence' is exceeded by my influence. Your Essence is synonymous with balance and my Yin is merely a new variable in the equation. The very day Orochimaru started destroying my jail was the day you had already lost. I should thank the Hebi; he has only heralded my coming. I'll be sure to kill him quickly and painlessly when I break loose. You desire freedom? So do I,** _ **beast**_ **."**

Naruto was horrified. He stopped what he was doing to look at himself in the light. His nails were like claws. His spiky hair was nearly like a mane and he was sure that if he could see himself in the mirror he'd scare himself. "How can I stop this?!" He cursed bitterly. "Did I really make that monumental a mistake by not escaping by myself in the Forest of Death?! I was only trying to look out for my teammates!" He tried again to turn the key and he was only marginally grateful when he finally unlocked it and fell out. Freedom…he had dreamt of it. If he had been imprisoned for twenty-four days, he had basically been imprisoned for forty-eight. It should have been a miracle but it was now bittersweet.

He got up to his feet, trying to make lazy muscles come back to life. Now, he had other current issues to deal with. Kin needed help. Her senbon was only serving to piss off her adversary, and his dodged fists only made him leave holes in concrete. His emaciated body would be matchwood in a fight like this. "C'mon! At least give me power since you're going to get loose by the time everything is said and done anyway!"

" **That would benefit me none. Go back into the cell and wait for Orochimaru to come back so he can finish the job."**

Well, suffice to say, he was on his own. He looked around for anything he could use to help him fight. There was nothing; no convenient stones or the like. It was a jail for a reason. There was nothing he could do to fight. The only thing left was to either run or surrender and Naruto hated to do either.

Kin noticed that the blond had gotten out. She felt a massive amount of relief to see him outside of his cage after so long, despite how much he looked like a half-starved animalistic-boy. She probably would have embraced him but the time didn't call for it.

"Trash! Stay still!"

That was the very reason. Even more so, Jirōbō now had strange marks running along his body. The sight panicked her and she could barely keep ahead of him. She had heard stories about Curse Seals and those stories couldn't hold a candle to actually having a bearer of it after her. Senbon stung, bells rung and it only served to piss him off. Retrieving a kunai from her holster, she didn't hesitate to throw it; she had no desire to fight with someone at close range who specialized at that range in the first place who not only exceeded her strength but also reach, mass and skill and who knows what else, no matter if he were badly poisoned or not.

The kunai stuck him in one of his upraised arms he used to defend and he yanked it out angrily and tossed it aside. "I can't believe I had to use the seal to fight the likes of you!"

The ninja knife clattered on the ground and slid against the ground. Naruto had been one to question fate, but he didn't question the fact that now, there really was a convenient weapon around for him to pick up. So he did, but the issue raised was that he had no way of knowing how to fight, and his weakened physicality made it worse. Nevertheless, he held it up and prepared to charge Jirōbō…

Killing intent flooded the room, bringing Kin to a halt and toppling Naruto to the floor. "My, my," a honeyed voice observed. "Kin-chan? What have we here?"

All eyes widened. Jirōbō fell to his knees. "Orochimaru-sama! I live to serve!"

Indeed. The Snake Sannin stood in the room as if he had only just arrived. "I know, Jirōbō. Pray tell why all the others upstairs are barely hanging on to life, Uzumaki is out of his cell and you're fighting Kin-chan?"

He knew why. Oh, he knew why. But needless to say, he loved making his prey cower and his subordinates nervous. It was the snake in him, to be sure.

"Orochimaru-sama,' Jirōbō looked up to address his leader from where he kneeled, "Kin turned traitor and poisoned us all at once, seeking to release Naruto from his cell unhindered. Had it not been for my tolerance and biomass, I would have already succumbed like my comrades."

The man's golden, slitted eyes squinted just a bit as he stared at Kin. The hapless girl fell onto her ass and tried to scoot backwards in terror, but the fear prevented her from moving. "Is that so..?"

The girl and boy shivered alike under the man's killing intent and piercing gaze. Kin fought herself in her mind to move but was basically paralyzed. 'Damn it! How could this happen? We should have escaped! What went wrong?! Did I do something wrong? Too much poison and they detected it too early, allowing Jirōbō to stop eating and still be strong enough to delay us?! What! And…Orochimaru…is this it? Am I going to die?' She barely managed to even glance at her blond friend who was in the same predicament as her, more or less. The Sannin didn't miss it.

"Kin-chan, is this true?"

The girl prattled. "Y…y…y…yes, Orochimaru-sama."

The man nodded as if he were sympathizing with her. "I see." With a movement so fast that none could see it, a kunai was hurled into the ground before her, badly startling her. "You have committed a serious offense and you've only brought shame down upon yourself… Choose to die by your own hand, or mine. Know that I will not be nearly so merciful."

Kin realized what the man was saying. All of a sudden, she couldn't hold back anymore; hot tears started flowing, clouded her vision and burned her cheeks. Naruto's eyes widened. " _Seppuku_? What?! But that's for Samurai! You son of a bitch! I'm going to-" Readying for confrontation, he grabbed the kunai he had dropped, but another one hitched itself into his left hand, making him drop the blade. Thin blood ran from the injury, but he paid it no mind.

"You, be quiet. I'll deal with you in a minute. In fact…" Orochimaru pretended to hem in thought. "You should sit and watch. You'll be able to learn from another's foolish mistake and stay put like you're supposed to."

Naruto flinched in horror as he got to his feet shakily. "No…no…NO! NO, damn it! Orochimaru-teme, if you think you're going to-" All of the wind was knocked out of him completely and he coughed up red droplets while he sagged off of Orochimaru's fist. The man was calm and collected as he grabbed the boy by the collar and hefted him up before tossing him away as if he was nothing but rubbish.

"Hush, Uzumaki." He turned back to Kin who was holding the kunai with the blade pointing at her own stomach as if poised for traditional disembowelment. He knew that the girl who was trembling like a leaf had too much of a hesitancy to go through with it and found it hard to suppress a laugh. "Ah, Kin-chan. One could only wonder what was going on inside that thick head of yours. But no matter." He opened his mouth to an obscene degree and retrieved a snake from inside; the scene horrified all three of them, including Jirōbō who was witness to the phenomenon for the first time. "But no matter," he repeated. "I have no inclinations in finding out how a fool thinks."

He (somehow) pulled out a long chokuto from the mouth of the short snake while he approached it. Kin realized from her memory of rumors back in Oto was that this was the blade of Kusanagi, believed to hold the most toxic of poisons. She knew that her (former) boss was about to make good on his claim, but still could hardly bring herself to move.

'So this is it. I'm going to…die.'

She thought it with certainty. No niceties, not facts to indicate this was a dream, nothing to convince her otherwise. Why did she think that she could change things, anyway? What a dumb way of thinking for a rice-paddy farmer's daughter.

"Kin-chan, run!" Naruto screamed as he tried to get back up off of the ground where he lay. "Run!" Vermilion chakra started leaking from his pores to form a shroud of his inner demon's likeness as his anger and concern rose.

Her only answer was to tremble as the only thing to occupy her mind was fear.

"Run for fuck's sakes!"

The predator was about to sink his fangs into his prey. Literally, he had his sword poised on high to run her through at her shoulder blades and be sure to run the sword through the entire meat of her upper torso.

Belatedly now on his feet, Naruto's eyes sought the kunai he dropped, found it and picked it up, not even realising that the red shroud around him was complete and tainting everything around him with a malevolent vibe, on par wth Orochimaru's himself. Already running (at a speed that could be called 'running' in his condition) he felt himself empowered by rage as he saw the girl lift her kunai more so as if to her own neck. He instinctively tugged on his abilities over Time again, but it still didn't work; it only served to make his desperation spike. If she took her own life, Naruto swore he'd curse her ghost out for the rest of the short remainder of his life.

But this was not to be.

At the last second, she herself lunged with the kunai with the vigor of a cornered animal, point and blade to for the man's groin. He hadn't expected it and with his current stance was unable to stop the knife in time before it harmed him completely. Truth be told, it only managed to only puncture the skin beneath his clothes barely and the thought of being touched by a weapon, even if it were less than a graze, by the hands of one of his weakest subordinates made him livid.

He caught the knife by her hand where she gripped the kunai and braced it away from himself and plunged down with the Kusanagi.

"NOOO!" Naruto roared.

Then everything went red. Bloody, awful red.

 **Well, that was evil. I mean, after three months and then some, I use a cliffhanger. It's not even the original chapter planned, yet I decided that it'd be a good way to make the end more profound. And while I'm sitting here at 1:15 am on the morning of February 22, 2017, I'm wondering why the hell I am using a cliffhanger. Huh? I got the resolution in mind and I could type it right now.**

 **Such is life.**

 **Anyway, since I got the resolution in mind, you can probably look out for the next chapter in perhaps a week or two at the max. I** _ **mean**_ **it.**

 **Valete omnes, all of you time-fiction fans and Kin-shippers.**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Living Twice**

 **1 day after promised deadline…  
Javascript for Form Validation Project happened.**

 **I talk too damn much, sometimes. Enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **23.**

"Hey, take it easy, Kakashi."

The man barely heeded the caution in mind but he did put down the bottle of rice saki. "Hmph."

"You'd better keep away from the damn alcohol. It's not doing you any good, y'know. I'd rather see you with your nose in that word-'o'-porno than to see you take up drinking."

"That's not doing any good either, Anko." The Hatake averted his gaze. "I've read the same page more than a dozen times and I can't keep my thoughts together to focus on the simplest tasks."

"And you think drinking is the better option?"

"There must be a reason for it to exist," the Hatake defended weakly as he watched his companion take a seat on the couch beside him. "It's a relaxant, isn't it?"

"Wrong." Anko reached across in front of him to pick up the placed bottle. "It's a _depressant_. Huge difference."

"It's the same in this case." He finally shook his head and turned back to face her; he was shocked to catch her in the act of chugging his saki. "What the hell? Isn't this hypocritical?"

"I'm not doing it to get drunk off my ass or to forget my troubles like you want to," she said seriously between gulps. "I'm only trying to get rid of it for you without wasting it."

The Hatake slightly fumed internally. "Thanks?" He mumbled sarcastically.

"You're welcome!" The Mitarashi answered brightly. However, the sharingan bearer simply got up and went to his apartment window and looked out. The lights of the village that lit up the night were beginning to dim little by little in surrender to the darkness; it was nearing nine pm. It made him more sullen knowing that he had yet another day of fruitless searching and his efforts had gone for naught. Anko could tell what he was thinking; it was a no-brainer ever since nearly twenty-five days prior, Naruto had stayed behind to stall Orochimaru…and had never returned since. "It's no use worrying, Kakashi. It'd be more productive to search-"

"I've been searching this whole damned village and the surrounding areas for TWENTY-FOUR DAYS, Anko!" He exploded. He turned from the window and saw her stoic expression. "Gomen."

"You don't have to apologize for being offended by bullshit, Kakashi." She got up and went over to him, whereupon she stood next to him to look outside at the dimming village as well. "You're feeling it hard, but I bet your brats are feeling it the hardest. You should be at least pretending to be stronger to console them."

"Me? They're not depressed, not in the least," he said wryly. "Instead, they've just gotten more vengeful. Even Sakura told me that she's getting some basic kenjutsu training from Hayate to 'fight at the front like her teammates.' The girl even added that Orochimaru just made it onto her shitlist. I didn't even know she had one."

"It was bad enough that Naruto went missing but then Orochimaru rubbed salt in the wound by killing Sasuke's guards and then put a curse mark on him too. If he doesn't stay strong in mind, it's going to poison his mentality and drive him crazy."

"I daresay that you speak from experience?"

Anko punched the man hard in his shoulder. "That was a low blow, one-eye."

Kakashi broke out into a set of silent amused chuckles. "I know. But there's something I can't figure out…"

"What's that?"

"Naruto can see the future, can't he? Even told us that he can control it? How does a complete disappearance happen to him? Shouldn't he find a workaround? Shouldn't he _have_ , I mean?"

"Maybe Orochi-teme found out and he's experimenting on him. Likeliest scenario."

"Would it kill you to be more positive?" He groaned.

"Kakashi, believe me, the last thing I want to do is lie to you. Besides, if you were Orochimaru, wouldn't you want a dandy thing like that? Hell, you don't even have to be Orochimaru to want the brat's abilities. Remember the time he made the two of us hug? It's like he stopped time or something and then just moved us to how he wanted as if we were nothing more than shogi pieces."

"Yeah, I remember. But Naruto could beat anyone if he was able to do that. He must have botched things or he's somehow unable to pull it off again. "

"But no matter that, if he can see the future, he should foresee what to do and act accordingly to get shit done right the first time. Right?" She pondered.

"Of course. He must know what he's doing. But he shouldn't try to do things all by himself. Why didn't he allow us to tell the Hokage what he's capable of? Hokage-sama knows that he see the future, but not his abilities over time. Why wouldn't he tell him? In fact, why does he trust us so little about his abilities?"

"It's a no-brainer. Imagine. It's already a formidable thing to know the future, but to _control_ time? Everything would be incredibly more simple and complex. People would fight to use his talents; imagine wars being fought for him. He's already basically like a weapon of mass destruction but consider the fact he freezes time for a field of enemy ninja. All that would be left is for him to just walk up to them and cut their throats."

"I know. But he was also quiet about Orochimaru. Why?"

"I can't tell you. You'll better ask him yourself after we find him." Anko's gaze fell briefly before she looked up. "Hey…Kakashi?"

"Hmm?" His visible eye trained on her and he didn't need the lost depth perception to see that she was getting a bit nervous. "What is it?"

"Back when he made us hug…um…he said you had a soft spot for me. Is it true?"

Kakashi was silent. In his mind, he realized that she didn't quite sound like Mitarashi. She didn't really sound like Anko, either. She sounded like a girl whom he had once spoken to a few months after Orochimaru had betrayed her. He never thought he could've heard a demure tone like that. But no sooner had it come, it left.

"This is just like when you said that people cared for me and when I asked you 'who', you were silent. Just like now. Are you ashamed?" Her voice slightly cracked, although he could barely detect the sliver of weakness behind the wall of bravado. Said bravado wasn't faked, it was a part of her character. It's just that instead of eliminating her femme side, she merely stifled and hid it in a metaphorical house made with 'brash' walls without windows or doors.

"…No. I'm not ashamed. I'm…" He scratched his head. "It's that…well…I thought it was infatuation, so I was waiting it out to see if it would die out. It hasn't, or maybe just not yet."

"Kakashi…" She growled.

"It's grown, so I don't think it's infatuation, Anko." He stated calmly, holding her gaze. However, he had to look away as he didn't want to be too imposing, not to mention that the woman's piercing stare seemed to be measuring him, nearly cutting him down even.

Her miffed expression slowly did an about turn and the woman smirked. "Well, Kakashi- _kun_ ," she practically purred the last like a motor, "I guess we'll see, won't we?" Before she could go on, both of them reacted subtly at the sensing of malevolent chakra tease over the village, before becoming more pronounced. She turned back to Kakashi, but the man was already pulling on his sandals to bustle out and when she saw this, hurried to do the same. "Hold on, I'm coming."

He knew that she needed no caution; she was strong enough in her own right and he wasn't about to take on another case to worry about when he had enough to deal with already. "I know. But we'll probably see Orochimaru."

"I'm looking forward to seeing him. Seeing him **dead** , that is. Let's go."

 **=X=X=**

At the last second, she herself lunged with the kunai with the vigor of a cornered animal, point and blade to for the man's groin. He hadn't expected it and with his current stance was unable to stop the knife in time before it harmed him completely. Truth be told, it only managed to only puncture the skin beneath his clothes barely and the thought of being touched by a weapon, even if it were less than a graze, by the hands of one of his weakest subordinates made him livid.

He caught the knife by her hand where she gripped the kunai and braced it away from himself and plunged down with the Kusanagi.

"NOOO!" Naruto roared.

 _Had he always been a balanced person? He had gotten to be able to control time in a radial recently, hadn't he? The Kyuubi had always been a part of him, hadn't it? It Yin was always within him from the start, wasn't it? Something changed. It increased._

 _What was Yin, anyway? Yin was Dark, Passive, Cold and Reactive. He had used Yin to slow the passage time to suit him._

 _What was Yang, anyway? Yang was Light, Active, Warm and Proactive. He had used Yang to speed the passage of time to suit him._

 _He had used them in the correct amounts to alter the present as it suited him. Now, he'd do what he used to do. Use brute force. If he had a two-by-four (2x4) block of wood and needed something to stuff a circular hole, he'd force it until it claimed. If an enemy didn't go down with a punch to the jaw, he'd keep on using the same tactic until the enemy was felled._

 _He was Naruto. Naruto had always been one to kick against the pricks and thorns. When things were stronger than he, he'd use his natural and dumb stubborn will to keep at it and_ _ **never**_ _give in._

 _He was an idiot. But he was always a dogged believer that, no matter what his personality or mentality, that anything could be done with enough of the same effort. Little strokes fell great oaks._

Then everything went red. Bloody, awful red.

" **RAAAAGGGHHH**!" Naruto howled while screaming for time to bend to his will inside his mind. ' **SLOW! SLOW! SLOW! SLOOOOWWW!'**

It failed with each repeated attempt. Naruto could have sworn he saw a few blood droplets splattering about from in front of Orochimaru as he brought his sword down. In that mere split-second, he blew his stack and a second, then a third tail exploded into being from behind him. In the same breath, the shroud of his arm elongated forwards as Orochimaru seemed to withdraw his hand holding the sword. With anger and horror, the shroud of his thrusted right arm flew through Orochimaru like a ballistic weapon and out through his chest on the other side in bloody rapture.

Caught by surprise, Orochimaru looked down to see the chakra arm growing out of his chest before it was yanked out. Blood spilled from the gaping hole through which light could be seen from either side and the man coughed up some as well as he turned to face the enraged boy, in disbelief that he had been caught flat-footed.

Then the three tails disappeared, leaving only a feral Naruto in its wake.

The ferocity and sudden boost of his offense plummeted, but he more than made up for it when he saw Orochimaru begin to open his mouth obscenely wide. Not wanting to see what would happen next, his hand reached and found the dropped kunai and charged forward with it. For some reason or other, the Snake Sannin didn't react and the Uzumaki capitalized on it. With more than ample force from his feral state, he rammed his kunai, point driving upwards from underneath the man's head, just about at his Adam's apple.

The kunai explored regions that normally brought death to ordinary shinobi, but not Orochimaru. In his effort to buy time to carry out his shedding technique, he kicked the Uzumaki, but as soon as Naruto hit the far back wall, he was already rushing the man again and tackled him with a shoulder to the ground.

A hole in his chest and another in his throat, Orochimaru felt his life slipping with the blood that he was losing. His Kusanagi slipped from numb fingers and Naruto grabbed it and began stabbing the man relentlessly in his chest and stomach. Orochimaru pushed him off weakly, but Naruto was upon him again but with a little more objective in his assault.

He staked the man's arm at his biceps on one hand and raked it hard and through his arm right to the wrist, slitting his muscles and main tendons and ligaments to ribbons. He doubled and did the same thing to his other arm before he stabbed right through the man's legs one at a time through the meat of his thighs and his even through the man's knees.

Now reduced to a quivering pile of jelly on the ground, Orochimaru grunted a stream of curses. Likewise, Naruto yelled unintelligibly in wrath before he staked the man right through the area his heart resided. He twisted the sword in the wound, but after enough of his cognition came to him, he believed he was only trying to put pain into a corpse. Eyes wide in disbelief, Jirōbō snuck out and ran for his life, raising a racket as he went, but he was paid no mind by the genin who was slowly coming down from his high.

As more and more of his mind returned to him, he slowly turned to face Kin, afraid to see her keeling over in a pool of her own blood. Instead, for the better, she appeared to be unharmed, something that baffled him. Not to say that he wasn't grateful. Miracles can happen, he supposed. Right?

But he couldn't read the expression on her face. It was as if she was trying to cry, be frightened, horrified and smile and laugh all at the same time. His face probably had the same dumb look too after what he had just done.

That was all he had time to take in when his vision faded away at the corners, before going dark completely as he blacked out, the boy never even hearing her call his name in concern.

…

…

…

Slitted red eyes opened slowly as the owner felt his face being mildly slapped in an effort to rouse him. That was the first thing he felt upon waking; however, the first he saw was a bonny face peering down into his. Said face was marked by their recent fight, and he was sure his own didn't look much better. But truth be told, he had had his thoughts that she was a pretty girl. But while he laid on the ground, his head in her lap and she was fussing over him, he thought that there was nothing like a dosage of prison to make a pretty girl look even prettier; the girl leaning against the wall had been a scarce visitor, after all.

"You alright, Naruto-kun?" She asked, volume just barely above a whisper.

Tensing a bit, he altered his head to look over to where he figured Orochimaru lied. He was still there; the only thing changed was the amount of blood pooling from him. It had increased. He had to be dead. Thinking if it as a fact, he exhaled with relief. "Yeah. I'm alright."

She seemed to gain a calmer vibe too. "Thank Kami." She was extremely relieved. On the same night, she had not only freed Naruto from his keep, but Orochimaru had also been dispatched. For lack of a better phrase, it was indeed happy hour.

All of a sudden, all of her anguish that had been riding on her since joining Oto felt like it was ebbing away, or rather, felt like it didn't matter anymore. The pain, sadness, people she had once called comrades that had been killed. Not to mention, the ones that she had just killed…

Maybe that was her price. But it was Naruto who had done the work. He had killed Kabuto and Orochimaru. What had she done? Simply made opportunities for him to accomplish it by being a liability? Who knew?

She felt the weight of him lift out of her lap and he got up slowly. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could use a bite to eat. I haven't eaten anything worthwhile in nearly a month."

She half-glared at him with a questioning look, as if to say, 'Nothing at all?' He took the hint and chuckled.

"Well, nothing decent except for my birthday, that is," he amended with a smile. He lumbered forward as if to head to the exit, but nearly tripped.

"Hey, take it easy." She got up as well and walked after him. Fortunately, she was able to catch him before he face-planted himself and braced him up by the shoulder; likewise, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder before they started going forward. "You can't just keep acting like you can shrug off anything, you know."

"I don't. I'm just anxious to get out of this hellhole, I mean really, I can't handle another second of this place. Come to think of it, how come you did something so ballsy anyway? Coming to try and bail me out with Jirobo after you? You're not as awesome as me."

And so they continued to walk off into the corridors ahead, laughing the darkness together, leaving the twitching body of Orochimaru behind.

…

...

…

She made sure to bypass the mess hall that had her poisoned comrades. She was sure that it was just their bodies in there at present and she had no inclination to see the bodies of those she had killed so…underhandedly. She would have liked to remember them while being alive than to see them as nothing more than corpses, slumped and prostate on the ground with spilled bowls of stew around them.

Speaking of which, she wondered if she would ever be able to eat any stew again in the future without looking at it differently. She had only killed once before, in self-defense. She had gotten over it long ago, but this was something new to contend with.

"Something wrong?" Naruto, the ever-observant one asked.

"Um…no. Everything's alright." They continued to make their way with a torch that Kin had snagged from a wall to carry it with them. The flickering light of the open flame danced around them with an uneven circle of light, casting shadows. But instead of giving them any misgivings or trepidation, it was as if they were immune to it, finding and receiving strength from each other. Naruto thought it strange. Kin thought it to be a coincidence.

Speaking of coincidences…

"Um…you know I don't think any of this was supposed to happen."

"Huh? What? What do you mean?"

Kin sighed as they walked. "You know…whatever ability that makes you see the future. I think I got it too."

Somehow, Naruto found it in him to keep moving, not reacting visibly from the news. "…I see."

"'I see'?! 'I see'?!" She asked angrily. "That's your response?"

"Well, wha' do you want me to say, huh?" He answered calmly. "'Sorry'? 'Hurrah'? 'Welcome to my life'? This is freaking me the hell out, too. How am I supposed to take this? All I can say is that you probably got it by being in the void where I got my powers to manipulate time. By proximity."

"That's true," she admitted. "And the truth is, it happened this evening. First time, too. It told me to poison my comrades to bust your sorry ass out of jail."

"I was just unlucky, is all. If you had done something from day one-"

"Oh sure. Kill everyone and get the key. Simple." She mumbled sarcastically.

"Wasn't it? I mean, you got me out, didn't you? It's just that hebi-teme showed up."

"It wasn't supposed to happen." They reached the steps to get to the ladder that would get them out by means of climbing and Kin had to double her efforts to help him up. "I must've botched things, somewhere along the line."

"You changed one small detail. That's what happened," the Uzumaki lectured. "Believe me, I've had my share of changing one small detail and everything blew up in my face. Di you think that you did everything right? What was the first thing that you did that didn't happen in the dream?"

She thought it over for a full minute before she answered. "I must've used slightly too much poison. They detected the taste. If they hadn't tasted it, they would have eaten the full dose in their food and-"

"Now you know." Naruto cut her off. "Maybe it's for the best that you don't think about it too much."

He was right, she thought. It was for the best if she didn't dredge up whatever could've been lurking in those waters. "Yeah." She flinched suddenly as pain flashed in her side, making the blond worry.

"You alright? Stitches? Wanna take a break?"

"N-no. That bastard Jirobo swings a mean fist." They stopped a bit to allow her time enough to shake it off before she continued moving again. Naruto tried not to meditate on it too much, but he did see her discretely spit blood aside. She obviously didn't want her to worry about it when he saw the attempt to hide it. Considering her silent wishes, he neglected to say anything.

They reached the ladder Naruto told Kin to go first. They got in a little mini argument that hardly made any logic before the girl conceded to go first. For Naruto, it felt like he was getting high off of the anticipation of being really free…out of this dank hole that was fast becoming just a tomb for the damned. Up above, he heard her open some kind of a hatch that led to the outside. If she was that far up, he might as well start climbing; he was waiting to allow one person at a time, just in case the wooden thing couldn't support their weight. Of course any ninja could just walk up the side with chakra, but apparently, there was no wall; just a hole in the middle of the ceiling and the ladder as straight up as a ruler.

With that in mind, he began to climb, ignoring the aches and pains in his body. He had reached about halfway when he realized that he didn't hear Kin about on top. "Yo, Kin-chan! You still alive up there?"

"Of course I'm alright! Now hurry up and get up here!" He heard her voice retort, making him grin. Well, she sure was spirited when she wanted to, wasn't she?

That was when he heard some sort of struggling about on top and his curiosity piqued with a tinge of worry. "Hey, stop messing around! That's not funny!"

"…" No answer.

"Oh geez. That's in poor taste." He finished climbing and was about to push on the closed lid to let himself out. As soon as he did he felt his whole body yanked out by the same arm he used and found himself eating grass with the arm behind him and a knife at his neck. "Agh! What the hell?!"

"Hold it! Hold it! It's him, Anko!" Naruto could hear a familiar voice yell. He recognized it as Kakashi's and he sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank Kami! I thought I blundered into another fight!" However, he felt his arm still pinned behind him by the pineapple-headed woman and groaned. "Get off of me, Anko."

"Payback's a bitch, eh, gaki?" He heard her whisper in a sultry tone.

"Yeah, and apparently, you're payback. Now off! And where's Kin-chan?!"

"Easy there. So that who that girl was? You know her?" Anko eased up and allowed the young man to get back up. "Oi, Kakashi-kun! You didn't slit that girl's neck, did you?!"

Naruto froze, waiting on the man's response. It was soon answered when the man came back over and presented the Oto Kunoichi with a rag gag tied around her mouth and her wrists lashed with strong bands. Naruto sighed in relief. "Oh, good. Boy, you guys work fast, huh?"

Kin growled around her gag in displeasure as the joke was in poor taste, particularly for her since she was the brunt of it. However, she fell silent as a newcomer practically appeared out of thin air with six masked ANBU ninjas right before her, just behind Naruto.

The newcomer was wearing a red Kite Hat with very specific kanji that was mirrored by the robes that he wore.

It was the Hokage.

 **=X=X=**

The Uzumaki lied in his bed, eyes fully open. He found it ironic that he was unable to close his eyes for even five seconds, much less sleep forty winks while he was in this bed, this nice comfortable in relative safety, rather than the dirty floor of the jail cell he had been in. He kept trying to think of the reason; he was now secure, his bed was the most comfortable one he had ever been in his life, Orochimaru was dead, he didn't have to look forward to getting the seal on his gut get warped in the morning and he was in the Sandaime's house. That was as safe as he was going to get.

But the Sandaime...

For once, just once, Naruto wished that the man was more of the understanding grandfatherly type than being the Hokage of the village. For once, (in the aftermath) Naruto wished that he didn't show him a grandfatherly side in the first place.

It was about Kin. Kin from Oto. Kin the Sound Kunoichi. Kin Tsuchi. Kin-chan.

This girl had done what he had thought was difficult and nigh-impossible; in her arrival into his life, she had broken his monotony of living. They had become friends and perhaps their ordeals had brought them somewhat closer to each other, or maybe it was just him. Maybe he was just overthinking things. Maybe he was wasn't and he didn't know. But that wasn't the issue.

"Well, now I know how she felt when _I_ was in the jail. Now she knows how I felt when _I_ was in the jail." He mumbled to himself. He didn't speak any louder, but he was sure that whatever ANBU that were in the room, (he was sure that they were, even if he couldn't sense them), they had still heard it.

"Why her? No...why me? No..." He hesitated. "Why _us_?"

He had long ago started to believe that there was a bit of truth that while he was able to change the future, he knew that there was such a thing as fate, destiny. If someone could foresee the future, why wouldn't they?

He only had one question: was what he normally did changing the future from what it was to what he wanted and needed to be, or was it predestined from the first place? In other words, if the future was a planned 10, was he always meant to do a simple 5 + 5 to get there by following rules? Or was it preordained in the matter that no matter what he did, whether it was 7 + 3 or 12 – 2 or whatever infinite choices in every single moment, the answer was doomed to always be 10?

If so, then why did his Kekkei Genkai matter? Thanks a lot, tou-san, he thought harshly.

He didn't have the answer to that, but yet another thing was more alarming; why **was** she in his life, anyway? Coincidence? Aforementioned destiny? There had to be a reason why his visions had her in such good esteem, why it told him to treat her the way he did, why he got caught up in these messes with her.

A thought came to mind; it was of a Yin-Yang symbol. All of a sudden, a slew of thoughts rushed through his mind. There was one, though, that was most prevalent.

One of them had a mostly bad 'outer' with a little good 'inner'.

One of them had a mostly good 'outer' with a little bad 'inner'.

Who was who? Which was which? Until he found out, he realized that fate was pushing them together. Balance, that was likely.

At long last, finally, he fell asleep. For once, he dreamt. He dreamt of his past.

 **=X=X=**

Across the village in a cell on an empty block, Kin had just awoken for the first time since falling asleep on the cot. Her mind ran on a certain blond and wondered about the irony of the situation, that of their roles being reversed from those they had while in the control of Orochimaru. She was sure that he must've thought about it too, but right now, she didn't care. Since Orochimaru was dead, the future was looking up. Hopefully, in time, she would be free. She used to be metaphorically chained and anyone could and would claim that being literally chained was worse. Right now, she didn't care much.

A thought came to mind; it was of a Yin-Yang symbol. All of a sudden, a slew of thoughts rushed through her mind. There was one, though, that was most prevalent.

One of them had a mostly bad 'outer' with a little good 'inner'.

One of them had a mostly good 'outer' with a little bad 'inner'.

Who was who? Which was which? Until she found out, she realized that fate was pushing them together. Balance, that was likely.

At long last, finally, she began to experience a vision. For once, she envisioned. She envisioned her future.

 **Well, the chapter is done, but this story isn't. Not yet. You can't expect me to write a climax so short, can you? The big thing is coming, but for now, I'm now setting the stage for future NaruKin shipping. Today, and the next chapter, there was and will be the focus as to why Kin has been in his life. I should be able to flesh out her out a wee bit more, then the rest will be history...or should I say future? Who knows? Reaction, Proaction, Past, Future. Same Difference, right, wrong?**

 **Hah.**

 **Until next time. I gotta head over to Breaking Limits and another fandom for a bit, so don't wait up for me. I'll be back after a while.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Living Twice**

 **The computer has been moved to a new room by the window, whereas before it was in a blank corner. Let's see if this affects the inspiration for this fic. For the better. I started using photoshop; guess that's a plus, right? You can tell from the new story image; I put some hours into it. (Shrugs) Maybe it's a better...clickbait?**

 **Yep, I have no shame.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **24.**

Kin absentmindedly picked at a loose thread in her bland off-white shirt. Everything about her screamed boredom. Not what could be considered apathy as was the case of most of the Nara clan, but something damned close to it. Well, at least in Anko's opinion it was.

"So then what happened?"

"Naruto-kun then used the sword and started carving Orochimaru up with it as if he was nothing more than a hog. He sliced up his arms, his legs, his neck and his chest."

The Mitarashi sighed a bit under her breath, wondering what to ask the girl next. She had answered the questions freely. Either she was really abandoning Otogakure and her boss, or she believed that Orochimaru was dead, or this was all an elaborate play. If it was the last, (Anko highly doubted that), then the girl was an accomplished liar. But it was either the truth, or the imprisoned kunoichi believed it was the truth.

And wasn't it? Orochimaru's body had been found at the bottom of the hideout that used to be occupied by Danzo's ROOT. If one thing could be said about Naruto, was that he was very _thorough_ when he was trying to kill someone. She had barely a good look at it last night before the Hokage let loose a fire ninjutsu that consumed the corpse in a large blaze that had the woman break out in a heavy sweat, even at her distance away from it. As far as she knew, the base was still intact; perhaps Sarutobi was trying to glean something of value from it; after all, Orochimaru had frequented it. Hell, maybe they were still combing the place for information exploits.

But that wasn't the point.

"When can I see Naruto-kun?" Kin asked in a low tone.

"Hmm? Naruto?" Anko pretended to think about it, although she knew not the answer. "Maybe soon, if you're on your best behavior. Or if he wants to see you. What, are the two of you hitched or something?"

Kin shook her head. "You're dodging the question. I asked ' _when can I see him_ '."

"I don't have all the answers, now do I? Answer mine, and I'll see if I can pull some strings," the woman answered shortly. However, this only made Kin shake her head again.

"I guess you can't tell me when. You're already out of questions to ask me, so how can I offer to answer more questions in exchange for favors?"

Anko glanced down momentarily at her list. Sure enough, the girl on the other side of the steel bars was correct in her assumption. "Oh? Maybe you should have thought about that sooner." Already, she was thinking about another question that she could ask the kunoichi.

"I did." The girl in the cell smiled slightly. "But I'm just…following the rules. I wanna see what that gets me."

Anko raised an eyebrow. Was this kunoichi up to something? This was supposed to be an interrogation, but it practically became nothing more than an interview. From the onset, Kin had answered promptly and clearly; no hints of lying either. Now, she looked…smug.

Anko nearly face-palmed herself. "The damn gaki has been rubbing off on you."

"If it was only that…" Kin said thoughtfully, before trailing off. 'Yondaime Hokage…Me…Naruto-kun…Kyuubi…What do these visions mean? I have some answers, I think. And some questions, too. But in order for answers to be worth a damn, the correct question has to be asked.' She was suddenly brought back to earth when she noticed Anko waving her hands wildly about before her. "Um…yeah? Did you say something?"

"Yeah. I asked 'how long have you known him?'. Or how long have you known each other?"

Kin hemmed and hawed. She knew the answer already, but she wanted to check again for the math just to make sure. "Let's see…today's the twenty-fifth of the month. The exams started thirty-two days ago and we saw each other for the first time two weeks before that…and then there was that time we were in that messed-up 'void' place…hmm…" She carefully calculated before arriving at her answer. "About three months total. That's how is for me, at least. Probably a lot longer for him to know me, because of how 'special' he is."

"What?" The woman was utterly confused. "Didn't you come to the village just last month to do the exams?"

"Yeah."

"So how the fuck does that work, huh?"

"It just does. So what can you do for me, huh?" Kin pressed.

The Mitarashi groaned as her head started to hurt. "I'll talk to the Hokage and see if he can allow a visit from your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," the Oto kunoichi calmly answered to the tease. She knew she shouldn't have even answered to it, but she was just following her vision's example. There had been hard consequences to pay during the Naruto's jailbreak where the poisoning act was concerned; suffice to say, she had learned her lesson.

 **=X=X=**

Naruto stared at his reflection in the mirror that stood over a chest-of-drawers. He wasn't pleased with what he saw; feral whisker marks, sunken cheeks and a gut that looked like it was crying out for a larger diet. He was already starting to fill it out since being fed before going to bed last night and eating a large breakfast this morning that was worth an entire day's worth of food. Supposedly it had to do with his vitality of body for his resilience so that he could bounce back so quickly. But it wouldn't be enough for the visitors that he was expecting.

Despite him eating, there were other things eating **him**. Nagging worries and burning questions. Throughout all of the events, since he had encountered her, Kin had been playing a major role. How, he knew not. Why, he knew not. Something, or 'somethings' were controlling how all of this had come to be and how it would play out. Why she would interact with him the way she did, why his visions factored her into them, why she would manifest the ability to experience the future beforehand like he did and why he was becoming…attached to her. Even now, his very chain of thought had her at the fore. A horrible cycle.

"Just going with the flow, huh, Naruto?" The boy mumbled. Deciding that he had wasted enough time, he reached into one of the drawers and retrieved clothing which he began to put on, before putting on a facial henge. In another minute or so, they were bound to arrive-

A smart knock came at the door. Damn, his timing was off. He hurried to pull on his shirt while he walked over to where the door was; he barely got it on in time before the door was opened on account of the visitors behind it.

Kakashi eye-smiled as bundled in with his other two students at his heels. "Yo, Naruto! Guess who I've got with me!" He appeared to think for a minute before shaking his head. 'Maybe he knew already. Right? Meh, who cares.'

"Naruto!" Sakura was all smiles while pulling him into a bone-crushing hug that made him yelp. "You're alive!"

He gasped for breath as he felt his ribs begin to creak. "Not…for…much…longer!" After being released, (a mercy), he looked to his other teammate that stood apart from the rest. "Where the hell is all this muscle coming from?!" A prompt cuff on his shoulder made him suck air in sharply. "Geez! You really want to finish me off, don't you?!"

"Take it easier, Sakura. Don't break him," Kakashi chided good-naturedly from where he sat on the windowsill, reading his trusty Icha-Icha. 'About damn time I could read this without my mind all clouded. Or rather too clouded.' He glanced at his reconciled team members who interacted with grins and playful punches that hurt a-bit-too-damn-much which made him smile under his mask. Things were going to get better, right? The worst had to be over by now.

"Hey, Sasuke? Naruto asked innocently as he sat on his bed and began putting on his sandals. "Wanna hear a joke I heard while I was locked up in a cell for the past twenty-four days?"

"What?"

"So this guy named Sakon; he's a pretty weird guy, and so were his friends. The girl one asked the fat one: 'hey Jirōbō, what's the fastest way to get an emo out of a tree?'"

Sasuke sighed as soon as he heard the three-letter word. "I'm not an emo, Naruto."

Naruto giggled as he thought about the punch-line. "'The fastest way to get him out is to cut the rope.' Damn, when I heard that, I was thinking, 'Nah, Sasuke's more of a 'slit-wrist' guy.'"

"Hn. Fuck off, Naruto," the Uchiha grumbled. " _This_ is the guy we were trying to save?" He asked in general as he pointed at the Uzumaki who was still laughing at his poor joke.

"You know that he's joking, Sasuke-kun. He doesn't mean it." Came the Haruno's response. She shook off his attitude for the moment and stared at the Uzumaki for a bit longer. "You look kinda healthy for someone who claimed to be locked up for twenty-four days." That comment made Naruto lose his happier mood and slightly shy away from her observing gaze. "You were locked up in a jail, or a hotel?"

"It's true, Sakura," Kakashi cat-called. Discretely and without anyone noticing, he pulled down his facial mask to lick a finger to help turn the page before pulling it up. Only went to show how much they were all focused on each other.

She eyed the prodigal squad-member for a little longer in the face before she narrowed her eyes. "You're hiding something."

Naruto looked down shamefully before he thought of a way out. "Yeah. I'm sorry Sakura." He looked up again and stared her back in the eyes. "The truth is…damn…this is hard…"

"What is it?"

"Um…while in Wave…I accidentally used your toothbrush. They were nearly identical."

"Ugh, what?!"

After a few more minutes of griping, Naruto shook his head at her dry-heaving antics. "Alright, enough of that. Take me to breakfast!" 'Yeaahhh, time for round two.'

"Why, the nerve-"

"Tell you what, Naruto." Kakashi shut his book with a clap and looked up. "I'll take you to have some breakfast. These two-" he gestured at them with a thumb, "have some training to do for their finals." He gave them all that 'look' that told him that he meant business. "You all can talk later. C'mon, Naruto."

"I hope you haven't spent your pay, yet. You're gonna need it," the boy grinned. That was his mistake, as Sakura was able to see vestiges and traces on his face that told her that he was covering his face up with the transformation technique.

'I knew it. Kuso, Naruto. What are you hiding?'

It wasn't only her. In that split second, Sasuke sought a final glance at the Uzumaki with his sharingan in an effort to find out what Sakura had seen of interest in him. No one noticed; as soon as his red eyes revealed for a glimpse, his slight flinching as his cursed seal tried to react from its restraining seal, nor his dropped jaw. Naruto looked positively scarier than the time he discovered his dead parents-

He shook his head to clear away the thoughts for becoming any more realized. He needed to talk to someone. Sakura would be enough.

 **=X=X=**

"I saw Sasuke activate his sharingan."

Naruto, to his credit, didn't stop eating. "I saw too. He probably saw through the henge." Another bowl of ramen now assimilated, he moved on to another. "I look really feral."

"I saw last night. Don't worry, the Hokage called for Jiraiya-sama. He's was already on his way back to the Leaf, so he should already be here, or by tomorrow. He's a sealing genius, so he should be able to fix your..." the Hatake glanced at the ramen mistress who hovered by the counter and taking care to coin his words carefully. "'Problem'."

"She already knows," Naruto said matter-of-factly. "Do you think that she could live in this village and not know about 'Furry Nine'?"

Kakashi fixed the woman with a one-eyed stare. "Is that so?"

The woman returned a stink-eye of her own. "Yeah. Is there a _problem_ , Kakashi-san? An apparently low price of ramen that needs some _adjustments_?"

Although a seasoned jounin, the legendary Sharingan bearer broke his gaze, on the sake for his wallet that he now fretted for. "No. Everything's fine."

Satisfied that she sufficiently cowed him down, she turned back to Naruto. "So um, Naruto-nii…"

"We've been over this, Ayame-nee. You're older than me." His answer made him out to sound irritated, although he was only playing a line.

"Geez. You know that you're the older one with all that double-living that you normally do," she teased lightly. "So tell me, know anything about any horses today?"

At the mention of that, Kakashi had a revelation. "Oh no…the bet.."

"Hmm?" Ayame looked up and turned to the Cyclops. "What bet?"

"The one he made about me passing the whole chunin exams. Obviously that didn't work out," Naruto said dryly. "Don't worry sensei. They'll give you a pass on account of Orochimaru showing his pasty face in the exams."

"Really?" He thought about all the money he was on the verge of losing. "Most of my life savings went in there."

"How old are you? If you're not old, it's not a lot. It's the general rule."

"Shut up, Naruto."

The Uzumaki continued to eat his noodles in silence. He could feel himself nearly fully topped with food on the inside. If he ate much more, he was sure to puke.

Still, he kept on eating.

His thoughts plagued him. He had answers, he had questions. He was starting to feel like part of a whole, yet more than a single thing at the same time. Was it the same with Kin? (Gulp) Was she feeling the same exact way? It didn't mean that they were to be 'together', right? Sure, he didn't really see anything wrong with it, but that didn't necessarily mean that **everything** was right with it.

Was he over-thinking things?

He thought that he thought so.

 **=X=X=**

"The Hokage denied your request," Anko said flatly.

Kin didn't look surprised. "I realized. Or I should say, 'I know'."

Anko shook her head. The girl, to her at least, gave off the same vibe that Naruto gave off. They spoke the same way, acted the same way, behaved the same way, emoted the same way…it was kinda creepy. But in the same way, she actually felt a bit sorry for her. So this was the girl that helped save Naruto, huh? Shouldn't she have gotten some sort leeway or any form of prisoner benefit? Maybe even a house arrest would have made more sense. But an indefinite stay in a cell? Of course, Kin was an enemy kunoichi, but that was 'formerly', like she herself when she had been a student of the Snake Sannin. Was she in here simply because of she was a lackey of the late Orochimaru? While it was a good reason, it still wasn't good enough.

She was standing still for a long time, gazing at Kin who returned a stare back. After trying to feel out the girl's character and coming to a decision, Anko left the vicinity of the cell. However, she returned a few minutes later, garbed in the standard white prison outfit and carried a large key in one hand and a shogi set in the other. Kin raised an eyebrow as she watched her jailer let herself into the cell, unlock her stock-cuffs, then re-locked the cell, with the **both** of them _inside_.

"What're you doing?" Kin asked.

"I get the feeling that you know already," Anko replied as she tossed the key out of the cell, far out of reach. "I bet that you know the future, just like ol' Naruto. I can tell that you both can, and that you both know about each other being able to."

"So what about it?"

Anko started laying out the shogi pieces on the board that she had placed on the floor, before settling into a lotus position on the ground. Kin joined her there and was about to ask the question again but Anko answered.

"What am I doing? I'm only doing what the Hokage appears to be doing. I'm locking up everyone who used to work with Orochimaru," she offered the Oto kunoichi a smile, before it fell into a frowning smirk. "Kin, do me a favor and don't cheat. I swear, if I get the feeling that you're using your freaky little time powers like your boyfriend, remember that it's your ass that's stuck with me in this cage."

Kin smiled back wryly before starting out the game by making a well-known poor move in an attempt to bait the older woman. "He's not my boyfriend, Anko-san."

"Sure. I believe you," the woman said dryly.

 **=X=X=**

"Was all of this an attempt to put your weight back on faster?" Kakashi asked innocently.

The Uzumaki had nothing to say as his mouth was preoccupied with vomiting his excess. The Hatake paid no more attention to the boy and focused on his reading, while in the meantime trying to figure out where Anko was. He hadn't seen a hint of her anywhere that was usually trouble. It was an unspoken rule that an unseen Anko was usually because one that was behind you. And having Anko behind you was never really a good thing. Keeping that in mind, he kept looking around. Having only one eye to use currently gave him a bigger blindspot and although he was strong, she was unpredictable, like Naruto with his weapons.

Come to think of it…

"Yo, Naruto. Forgot to tell you, but we found some of your gear back in the hideout. Most of it is intact, and the rest of it isn't really all that-"

"I only want the seals with my stuff back. And my mugshots," the boy grunted out as he turned the tap on and started drinking the water from the stand-pipe. When he was finished, he continued. "You have the one from the Forest, and the one from the Orochimaru's little hideaway… nah, I've got a better idea. I'm gonna make a new one."

"A new one? What's wrong with the old ones?"

"I got captured. That's why. I only have two shots and they take ten to fifteen minutes of work to reload them. It's a real pain." Naruto held his hands out in front of him as he thought about what he needed. "Something like my carbines. They're long range. I can reload them fast enough already. But I want something like my twin mugshots. I've got to mix the two. How can I mix the two ideas, and make them better?"

"Make the pole bigger and then drop in the shrapnel inside that you normally use for your mugshots?"

"Yeah, yeah. But I'd need something with a bigger explosive tag but a C-ranked tag is what I normally use. A B-ranked one will backfire and kill me. Need a mixture of the two, like a halfway thing," Naruto argued.

"Why not use a C-ranked one, then use something else for an explosive, like your typical household items you seem to be a fanatic about? Or better yet, instead of using a C-ranked tag, use two, three or four D ranked ones? Should be a bit stronger than a C-ranked tag, but not the full force of a B-Ranked one," Kakashi said sagely. Years of experience spoke from him; he'd had practice from the fights over the course of his lifetime; more than just a few of them had been won with explosives. They made a mess but they did make things a hell of a lot easier.

Naruto sighed as he looked away. "Yeah. Ideas on the brain, but she's still on the mind. I've gotta talk with the Hokage," the blond mumbled under his breath, but the Hatake still heard.

"Talking about the girl you were with last night?"

"Uh huh. Stuck in a jail cell. Kinda ironic, but knowing from experience, I don't wanna wish it on anyone, especially someone like her who doesn't deserve it."

"You know her that well? What did she do for you to make you that loyal to her? She's an enemy kunoichi, Naruto."

Instead of replying, Naruto began to groan in pain as he held his gut; the ruptured seal started to burn him in his entire being, most like in response to his rise in anger. He even lost his control of his henge that had hidden his demonic-looking features. Before anyone of the public could see him, Kakashi yanked him away in a shunshin and dropped him on a nearby rooftop for at least a bit more privacy. His enlarged canines were obvious for anyone to see, as were his etched whisker-marks and slitted eyes. The jounin could even begin to see traces of a shroud starting to appear around the boy and had a mini-panic. Before he could make up his mind on what to do, the pain-wracked Uzumaki struggled to his feet and stood shakily and despite his condition, clearly spoke his riposte.

" **Shut the fuck up, sensei.** " Despite the Kyuubi's influence in him, Naruto stated (or rather _growled_ ), it calmly. He was trying his best to remain composed and it was starting to tell. " **Why should you care**? **You killed Ri-** " Before he could finish saying the name, he cut himself off. It was extremely taxing to try and calm himself but it didn't matter that he didn't finish saying the name. The damage was already done.

"You're right. I killed my friend, intentionally and willingly. And you followed in my footsteps." The Hatake said sourly. It was his way of stating facts, without poisoning the mood any more. It had its desired effect and without preamble, revealed his sharingan eye. Before Naruto could even blink, he was already under hypnosis and toppled backwards. He didn't feel the pain of it; he was already out cold.

Kakashi approached the prone form of the lad and heaved him up into a piggyback. "Shut up, Naruto. I **do** care."

 **=X=X=**

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on; it was getting stronger the more and more this 'Kin' girl was brought up. First Naruto told him, then Naruto again, then Naruto again, then Anko took up a place in the girl's cell, now Kakashi was talking about her? "Kakashi-san? Try to persuade me. Try harder this time. Why should I have that kunoichi released?"

"For Naruto's sake, Hokage-sama."

The older man continued going through the paperwork that had been left on his desk while they spoke. "For Naruto's sake? You mean the same person who neglected to tell me that Orochimaru was in the village? Wouldn't you say that this was his own fault for getting captured?"

"He didn't tell me either. Hokage-sama, he has a firm belief that his visions are what leads him to win encounters and to make no mistakes."

"Well, there'll always be a first time for everything. See? He says nothing, he does nothing. It's as if he let himself be captured. I feel no sympathy for him at all."

"You know all the details surrounding him and Haku in Nami no Kuni, correct?"

"I do." A stamp here, a stamp there, his paperwork continued to go by as they spoke.

"Since his mistake, he's been afraid of deviating from his visions. If the visions instructed him not to tell you, it must be for a good end reason. Perhaps this 'Gaara' would have been the cause of destruction. Or the other dead person we saw next to him. Or Orochimaru abandoning plans for more disastrous ones-"

The Hokage held up a hand to stop the Hatake. He was starting to ramble but his point had been made. "That may be true, Kakashi, but the future isn't set in stone."

"I wasn't aware of that, sir. I daresay that you're the one who's from the future so that you could say so."

The elder man ignored the cheek. "Even if that was true, why should I release Kin? If I did everything simply because of pressure, this village would fall apart."

"Oh, would you look at all that civil paperwork?" He gestured to the man's paperwork with a small wave of his hand to emphasize about the size of what could be legally called a paper mountain. I didn't know we had a secretary in the Hokage's seat." Kakashi knew that he was crossing the line with the honey-coated insults, but he felt that it had to be said. "Besides that, Naruto's losing control. I merely mentioned that she was an enemy kunoichi and I believe he was ready to fight me right then and there. Perhaps if this girl was around with him, it might make him a bit more mellow until Jiraiya arrives to fix his seal."

"Impossible. Naruto has the **Gogyō Fūin** on him. I placed the Five Elements Seal on him last night to cut him off from the Kyuubi's influence, not to mention four other chakra seals. He shouldn't be able to use chakra, let alone start to lose control."

Kakashi's sole eye widened. "He has that much on him and managed to make a henge with little effort?"

Now it was the Hokage's turn to be gobsmacked. "He did a transformation jutsu?"

"He kept it on for the whole morning before the Kyuubi's chakra started to take over, roughly an hour ago. I had to use the Sharingan to put him to sleep," Hatake explained.

"He was with you all of this morning?" Sarutobi asked, just to clarify. He took up his red stamp for the last time, seeing as it was the last document that left to be approved or disapproved. Obviously, he was choosing to reject it, like he had seemingly being doing that for quite a while with the previous work he had gone through since their discussion started.

"Hai. Why do you ask?"

The Hokage took up his most recently done paperwork. "Most of this was all Naruto's doing. he must have done it last night. Nearly all of the paperwork was this." He handed over the last of the papers so that Kakashi could read it.

"'Request for Tsuchi Kin to be released from prison.' Are all the papers identical?"

"All of them."

"Are you going to stamp them all identically?"

"Why shouldn't I reject it?" This was the last in the argument, so the reason had better be good. He was getting tired, his head really hurt him now and he was overall upset.

"As I said before, she might make him more serene. I know that she's a liability and a risk, but there's also the bigger issue, that of Naruto merely having another tantrum. Said tantrum which could cause Jiraiya to come back to see the Kyuubi making ashes out of the village. It's not as if there's another Yondaime around to give his life to re-seal the Kyuubi."

"If it must be done…I'd rather have Naruto-kun exiled or killed before the Kyuubi escapes." Although the Kage said it bluntly, it cut him to even say something of the sort out loud. He wasn't above doing the 'necessary dirty deeds', but he was the Yondaime's legacy and Hiruzen knew that he was honor-bound to hold him in high esteem. "But in any case, I'd rather have everyone safe in general." The Hokage took up his stamp and branded the paper.

 **=X=X=**

Kakashi trod silently in tow with Ibiki as they walked along the corridor of the prison. "Yeah. Really docile one, her," Ibiki stated as he pointed towards her cell. "Somehow, she won over Anko. Never thought I'd see something like that happen. Hell, I didn't know something like that would happen in my lifetime."

"Is that so?"

Ibiki made no further comment as they reached the cell. Anko and Kin looked up from their shogi board to regard the men that had arrived. "Kakashi-kun? Ibiki? What is it?"

"Oh nothing much," the Hatake said casually. "Kin gets to take a walk." He took a sheet of paper from one of the many seal-compartments of his vest and revealed to them with a flourish. It clearly indicated that it was a private request for Kin to be released. But more importantly, there was a large green 'APPROVED' stamped on it.

* * *

 **Well, that's that. By the way, how does everyone like the new cover-art for the story? I like the whole Black & White & Gray thing that fits the story's theme. I think I'm getting better at using Photoshop. Last week I did the ones for other stories in progress.**

 **Anyway, take care. And leave a review. Go ahead…make my day.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Living Twice: Altering the Present**

 **Well, it's the latest chapter, fjclay823. Delivered as promised.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **25.**

"So you know what to do, right?" Anko asked.

Kin nodded.

The Mitarashi grinned. "Good. Keep your boyfriend from getting pissed and causing the village to be destroyed. Easy." She reached in through the doorway and pulled the door closed, leaving Kin alone in the bedroom all alone. Well, not entirely; Naruto still lied on the bed, knocked out with sleep. And there were the fact that there were probably some ANBU posted in the room. It wasn't just because it was the Hokage's house, obviously. She was still a dangerous liability, as far as the higher-ups were concerned. She was running mostly on what could be called a recommendation, and the fact that Naruto might be reliant on her. Involuntarily, of course, but it did make her feel…stronger.

She ambled off to the Uzumaki's bedside and sat in the chair next to him. "He's not my boyfriend," the girl muttered. "But it's kinda close." She looked down at the boy; he didn't look like he was having a restful sleep; perhaps whatever they had done to put him under was too radical. To some extent, she entertained the idea of waking him but she hesitated. Seeing his rather feral features deterred her quiet a bit, not to mention, the proverb 'let sleeping dogs lie' kept coming to mind.

Then he started growling.

She quickly recoiled in fear, wondering if she had done something wrong. Cautiously, she reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, before drawing back and forth in a rocking motion to wake him. "Naruto-kun. Wake up."

He didn't show any immeadiate signs of waking. Was he just a stubborn sleeper? Or was it related to how his abilities tied in with sleep? Or even because of what they did to him to make him sleep in the first place?

Would she get into trouble for waking him, if the last was the case? Or would it be to his betterment?

Kin tried again, but this time, kept at it harder for longer. "Naruto-kun! Wake up! Y'hear me? Wake up!" She shook him vigourously by the shoulder and in her fit, finally smacked him once on the cheek, punctuating her final word. "Wake…UP!"

"Ow!" Red slitted eyes burst open. "Damn it! Take it easy, I'm up, I'm up!" He leaned up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes; they softened once he saw Kin in his room. "Kin-chan? They let you out?"

"Mm-hmm." She nodded. "I guess _**someone**_ finally convinced the hokage. But you already _**knew**_ that, didn't you?"

He got the hint and nodded sheepishly. "Great!" His right hand flew up to embrace his cheek. "But 'ow'! You've got a mean hand, though. One could say that you were _heavy-handed_?" Naruto laughed at his bad pun while Kin rolled her eyes. "Anyway, how've you been?"

"Obviously better than you." She stared at his eyes and briefly missed his ceruleans. "You look like a beast."

"I know. I was trying to use a henge earlier to cover it up." He formed the ram seal, ready to call forth his chakra to make the transformation jutsu again, but she grabbed his hands and pulled them apart. "Huh? What is it?"

Kin was about to tell him the reason, but she stopped herself; she paused to think a while. "You don't know why?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Um…I only foresaw a few hours, not the whole day. I went to bed at around midnight, around the same time when you got arrested. Speaking of which, you spent the night okay?"

"Well enough. I dreamt normally for the first few, then I started this 'living twice' **(1)** crap," the girl explained. "But the one-eyed man-"

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto offered.

"-Right," she took the interruption in stride. "Kakashi-san. He said that you should refrain from using chakra. It might make things worse. Like how he said you made a henge, and it made the Hokage's attempts to keep the Kyuubi's influence negligible."

Naruto shrugged. "Well, I guess it's not working right now, so why can't I keep using one? Damage's done already, as far as I care." He was about to try again, but she deftly slipped her hand between his, keeping him from perfectly forming the ram seal.

"Stop. It's not like you're with anybody who's going to judge you for how you look."

He smiled at this; it was a tiny thing, but it showed on his face nevertheless. "Thanks for that."

Kin grinned in response. "Sure." The grin soon fell as she contemplated something from earlier. "Hey, we both must've only foresaw a few hours. Why?"

"You think the time got halved to share for the both of us?"

"Hmm…I don't think so." Kin shook her head. "But the first dream I had was _weird_."

"Well, mine too!" Naruto gushed as he leapt off the bed. "I dreamt about my dad! It's like I could remember him from when I was a baby!"

"Oh yeah? And who's that?" Kin inquired. "Who's your father?"

Naruto was about to tell her, but wavered, wondering if they were truly alone; privacy was key, not to mention the fact that it was still pretty big news. He decided to go vague. "I wouldn't know his name. I was the baby, you know."

"Oh. Okay." She accepted the lie. "What happened?"

"Basically, I dreamt about mom and dad arguing. Then dad kicking someone's ass. Then the Kyuubi got sealed in me. The end."

Kin was flummoxed. "That's it? That's all there was?"

"Um…yeah," Naruto shrugged. "He also told me I'm going to fuck up things for me and everyone else."

"Really?" The girl slapped her one forehead in annoyance. "What kind of father tells their own son that-"

"He then said that I should have faith." The boy continued softly. "He said that I should have faith in everything that I do. To have faith that things will turn out okay. To have faith that I can do what I need to do. To be who I need to be. Faith is tantamount to belief, confidence and hope. Crap, maybe it's just one of those dreams where my own brain is trying to tell me something important or other." After this, he clammed up, leaving Kin to mull over his words, before coming to her own realization.

"You're talking about something you did. You _changed_ something important. But what?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe when I…no. I still killed Haku. Um…" Naruto snapped his fingers in eureka. "Sasuke. He was supposed to die in Wave, but I saved his life by saving Sakura myself, instead of allowing Kakashi-sensei to do it."

"If Sasuke died, Orochimaru would have lost interest in your team. Hell, maybe you wouldn't have had a full rounded team in time for the chunin exams, so Orochimaru still wouldn't have any crap to hash with you in the first place. You wouldn't have gotten caught by him and get your seal messed with. But you wouldn't have met me-"

"And I'm glad I did." He pulled her into a hug; the embrace felt foreign to her, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. "I'm glad I fucked up things if I could meet you. Guess it wasn't really a fuck-up then, right?"

"Right." They eased apart slowly, not wanting to end it but doing so to keep up appearances. "But while we're on this subject, I wanted you to know about _my_ dream." She dawdled here, wondering if she should continue with what she wanted to say. After a while, she decided to beat around the bush a bit; just to test the waters. "Do the names 'Mirai' and 'Rekishi' mean anything to you?"

"No." He shook his head in slight confusion. "Why?"

"Really? Not even the name 'Rekishi'? No familiarities?" The girl queried. Receiving another negative response, she began having doubts herself. "Okay. It's fine."

"Sure? Don't you know why?" The Uzumaki was sure that she was just testing him to see if he knew something. She certainly didn't sound like she was trying to find an answer she didn't already know.

"It's okay." She gave up. It was a waste. Besides, even if she told him, how would he react? For better, or for worse? What would be a good reaction, anyway? She didn't even see him in a romantic light anyway, not to mention, she felt that it was the same for him too. "But besides that," she changed the topic. "Do we have to stay cooped up in here?"

"I don't think they'd want me to leave." Naruto mumbled. "I gotta stay put."

"Well, _**I**_ can't." She got up and headed towards the door. "You coming?" Seeing him shake his head, she put her hands on her hips, giving off a frustrated vibe. "Let me get this straight…you spent nearly a month in a hole and now you want to stay _cooped_ up in one **room**?"

"Well…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. When she put it like that, it did make him seem foolish. "You're a bad influence," he said accusingly while pointing at her, before his face broke out in a wry smile. "I like that."

Kin grinned when she heard the poke at her history. "Alright! Let's go!" She was about to turn and make her exit but Naruto made a small alarm. "What? What is it?"

"I can't use a henge, right? I'm supposed to quit using chakra for a while, right? So how am I supposed to go out looking like…" He gestured to himself, particularly his face, "…looking like a demonic fox or a possessed beast?"

She walked back over and stood before him. He slightly shied away from her gaze, looking away and refusing to look her in the eyes. They were like this for a while; the silence began to seem enclosing…and…loud…and…awkward…

"Naruto-kun?" She said his name evenly, trying to feel him out for how he felt.

He didn't look up.

"Naruto-kun. Look at me."

Still nothing.

"Naruto-kun?" Kin whispered. In the lurid quiet, he heard her. "Look at me. Please." He obliged; raising his head, he locked his gaze with hers. "Is it because you don't want to upset the civilians…"

"…" No response.

"…Or is it because you don't want them to see you like that? Self-conscious? Are you afraid?" She didn't indict him; didn't seem accusing. Rather, she sounded like she genuinely cared about how he felt about the matter. Empathetic.

"I…" He fumbled with his words. "I don't want them to see me like this. It's hard, you know?" He backpedaled a little and let himself plop onto the bed. She did somewhat similar, and took a seat beside him. "It's hard. All these years of growing up alone, they would always call me a 'beast', a 'demon'. Sometimes, they'd call me a 'monster', and that's only if they were in a good mood. I feel like if I go out there and let them see me like _this_ …" He held up his hands and saw his fingernails looking like claws and knew that his face showed the same feral evidence. "If they see me like this, it'll only prove that they were right." His tone soured at this. "Maybe I really _am_ one."

"Of course you are. You really _look_ like one, so you must be one."

"Excuse me?" He would have expected her to say that he wasn't, but now it felt like she was making it worse.

"You must be a real _bakemono._ You look like one." Kin said seriously. "But besides that, I guess this is the first time I've met a monster I liked. Just the way he is. Outward appearances don't mean a thing to me."

"Really?" Hope (and slight embarrassment) ballooned in his chest.

"Of course. Besides, if the others don't like you just because of how you look, then that's their problem. But since you feel like this-" She eased herself off of the bed and stood before him. She formed the ram seal to pull on her chakra reserves and performed a henge. As the wisps of smoke cleared from her jutsu, she was revealed as having the same etched whiskers on her face, with red slitted eyes to match. The only thing wrong was that her teeth didn't have the extreme pronounced features that Naruto's fangs, (probably a flaw in the jutsu's execution). "Well, look at me. I mean, I look like a monster. I've got to be one, right? I appear, therefore I am."

"No you don't," Naruto said hastily. "Look, I appreciate a good scolding as much as the next guy, but I've got a literal demon sealed inside me. There's nothing that any of us can do about that."

"Well…now it's a problem?"

"When you put it like that-" He started to defend himself, but Kin interrupted him by grasping his legs and slightly pulling them apart. "What the hell?"

"Excuse me…" She appeared to look closely at his in-thighs. "Just making sure there isn't any bleeding going on down there."

Naruto rolled his eyes in contempt. "Ha-ha. Very funny." He thought her tease to be in poor taste.

"Jokes aside," she leaned back up to peer in his face. "I've had the pleasure of knowing _real_ demons. They had human skin. You might know them as Orochimaru and Kabuto. I think you determine demons by their actions, what they do and the decisions they make. While I can say that you haven't always made the best decision…" She trailed off, letting it hang a bit. It was a massive hint to his actions in Wave of which he constantly kept bringing up.

"I know what you mean. But-"

"'But' nothing, Naruto-kun! All you can do is to let this _go_." Kin stood up and held out her hand to him. "All we can do is keep making the best of what we've got." Naruto grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull him up as leverage.

"Good speech. Do you also do toasts at weddings and birthdays?"

Kin visibly froze when he said the word 'weddings', but she shook it off quickly. "As if." However, instead of pressing her about it, Naruto shook his head. "Well, arigatou. I guess I can say I'm not that bummed out anymore. But at least let me put on a hood-cloak or something. I'm not too keen on getting run out of the village by a lynch mob. What's more, I can't be too bothered with living life on the lam."

"I guess if I go out looking like you, I'd be in the same boat." Kin mumbled as she glimpsed herself in a far mirror on the wall. "I guess we really do look demonic."

"Turning into a hypocrite?" Naruto asked in an asinine tone.

"I said 'look', smart-ass. I didn't say that we are." She watched him don the clothing before pulling over the hoodie that concealed his head. His face was hidden by (enough) shadow, and she told him so. "Alright. Let's get going." On their way out the door, Kin turned to the 'empty' room. "Hey, ANBU! You coming or what?!"

A few shadows shifted here and there, but there were no audible responses. The girl shrugged. "Whatever."

"Kin-chan? Take off the henge. Seriously. If you're going out looking like that, walk ten feet behind me."

"I wouldn't oust you like that!" Kin defended herself boisterously as she closed the door. "I think I'm okay with it!"

"Well, it's unbecoming. Besides," he placed his left arm around her shoulder while pointing to himself with his right thumb, "I think I wear the look better, anyway. Not to mention, it's my trademark. Now lose it."

"Fine."

 **=X=X=**

Shuriken, by the number of six, cut through the air and slammed into a wooden post, all jostling for the dead center of the target painted on it. Sakura didn't stop to appreciate her work. She continued pulling out the throwing stars out of her pouch and sending them on their way as well. Sasuke trained in silence as well, but that was normal for him. However, tension leaked from the both of them and it made things feel a bit discomfited.

"You saw his henge, didn't you?" She asked quietly. To the Uchiha, it sounded louder than the sounds of their training, and it made him stop.

"I didn't just see his henge, Sakura. I saw _through_ it." He turned fully to her, allowing the girl to see his face. He looked badly disheveled. "I used my Sharingan to see through it. Wasn't the best choice; now, I'm never going to forget it."

"What did he look like?"

Sasuke paused to think. "You recall hearing the adults always whispering about him, or having them telling you to avoid him whenever possible?"

"Yeah."

"I guess you could say that I saw why." He then went on to describe the Uzumaki that he saw, sparing no details. "He must've been wearing the henge this morning to hide himself. The only questions are…has he always been in some sort of disguise…?"

"And what's causing him to look that way in the first place." Sakura scratched her chin. "I think we should try to find out." She went over to the post in which her shuriken littered, before starting to pick them up and re-placing them into her weapon's pouch. "Either we ask the adults, 'cause they obviously know more this than we do…"

"Or we ask Naruto himself." Sasuke finished. "Let's put a rush on it. It's already late afternoon."

 **=X=X=**

"Yeah, Give me a double-scoop," the boy said in response to the seller's question of what he wanted to purchase. He angled his head to face the girl behind him. "Hey, Kin-chan? Want any?" He hoped she'd say 'yes'.

"Of course I want some too. It's no fun to watch someone else eat something you want."

"Well…okay." He returned his attention to the retailer. "You heard her. Give her a double-scoop too. And make it look fancy."

"Okay, okay. What flavor?" The man inside the small dessert shop turned his back to dish out the frozen treat.

"Vanilla's fine for me," Kin called to the man.

"Vanilla? Boring…" Naruto muttered before raising his volume to the man. "I'll take saki-and-raisin." **(2)** He watched with interest as the man skillfully used his serving spoon to dish out what they wanted.

"Hey, I like what I like, alright?"

"Obviously you like plain flavors. Good thing I sprang for something to decorate yours," the boy remarked as he watched the man stick a piece of pocky in hers. He paid his money and took the ice-creams that the man offered him. "Here you go." They were about to leave, but the vendor called after him.

"Hey…you paid three times the cost. Is that a tip or something? Or do you have too much money to spend?"

"I just paid the amount you charged me last…time…" Naruto trailed off when he realized what was wrong. The last time he came here to get ice-cream, he was Naruto Uzumaki, the village pariah. Today, he was just a normal kid (in a hoodie) getting ice-cream.

Was that an advantage? Or was it that he was no longer _at a disadvantage_? He supposed that either way worked for him; he was paying less.

"Well, no. I was um…testing you. You're really honest," Naruto stated with difficulty. He retrieved his difference in cash and walked off. "I'll be sure to tell everyone. Consider it free advertising."

The vendor waved at him, wondering if something was off. Nevertheless, he paid them no more mind, and the two teens went their way.

"That was weird."

"No. It wasn't." Naruto rolled his eyes. "He's the only guy who'd sell me ice-cream, but that was the amount he charged me last time. I just forgot that I'm _incognito_."

"I get it. They hate you like a plague." Kin plucked out the pocky out of the thick cream. When she saw that it had been a red stick, she had high hopes…'Please don't be cherry, please don't be cherry, please don't be cherry….' Then she bit it.

Naruto watched the girl demolish the pocky while he sweat-dropped. "That was apple-flavored pocky, wasn't it?"

"Mm-hmm? What gave it away?" It was as if she really didn't know.

The teen looked away in slight embarrassment. "Um…lucky guess? Maybe because it was red, too?"

"Okay, then," the girl shrugged. "But hey, at least you get to even see daylight, right? You didn't have to stay underground hiding like a rat-"

"-Or snakes?" Naruto said pointedly. "How'd you get to be working for a guy like that snake-teme anyway?"

"Living with my dad on an apple farm-" She was interrupted by the boy's slapping of his own forehead. "What?"

"You lived on an apple _**farm**_?" The boy asked, incredulous; Kin nodded in response. "Oh man, that explains a whole lot."

"What about it?"

"N-nothing. Nothing at all," Naruto said cheekily while licking his own ice cream. 'Woo…saki and raisin, huh…good combo…'

"Well, moving on," Kin muttered. "You could say that we had a few hooligan problems. I left to join Orochimaru so I could...you know…"

"Learn how to kick their asses?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. Seeing her remain quiet, he went on. "Gee, how'd that work out for you?"

"Cut back on the sarcasm. Kami, I know I screwed up on that. I mean, what's your excuse for becoming a shinobi?" She asked, thoroughly expecting him to be stumped. Unsurprisingly, he was.

"Well…what else could a guy like me do, huh? I wasn't really good for book-learning. Besides, with the abilities like I do, what else _would_ I do?"

"Go into stock management? Gamble? Become pioneer in the medical field-" Kin started to ramble, before her partner cut her off.

"Since you've got my abilities now too, does that mean that you'd quit being a kunoichi and start doing those things you just mentioned?"

"Well…" She hesitated. "I still have to get back to my father…"

"And just putter along and waste the newfound talents to know the future-"

"Well, at least I'm not wasting my life just going through the motions!" Kin exploded. The public street was now filled with eyes that drew over to them, but it didn't make her even half as self-conscious as it made Naruto did. "You've had it for four years, eight years if you want to get technical! What kind of achievements you've made, huh? Just a bunch of fuck-ups!"

Naruto sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, okay? I…it's just that you were right," he spoke quietly. "It has been a waste. But I've never tried to use it without considering other people. Doesn't that count for something? Not to mention, the whole thing makes me afraid to get out of my comfort zone. The future is…scary. I'm afraid to make changes. I don't know if the outcome I see is always the best one. I don't know if you being here is the future that would have been the best one. I messed up, you got caught in the crossfire and now I'm a walking disaster waiting to happen."

It was somber. The crowd soon lost interest and weaved their way around the two that stood still in the street. But Kin heard him out; listened to what he had to say. "But that still doesn't excuse your decisions-"

"I know. I always had a choice. I just let my fear of change make my decisions for me. I've tried to break out of that shell, make small changes but altogether…well…"

"Yep, the future sucks." They started walking again. 'Except if that first dream I had was true…I guess not entirely."

"If you say so. But I guess we'll just have to make the best of the present, right?"

"Uh huh." She glanced at him eating his ice-cream and made a small frown. "You've got something on your face, there…" She pointed to at the smear of cream.

"Hmm?" He swiped at his face with the back of his hand. "Did I get it?"

She peered closely. "No. It's to the right. Right side."

He rubbed the wrong side. In slight exasperation, she reached out and dabbed at the elusive spot with her thumb. To his fluster, she tasted it and made a face. "Damn…you're right. Vanilla _is_ boring. Especially compared to this."

"You know, if you wanted to taste it," he held out his half-eaten cream to her, "you could've asked."

"Well, since I got the pocky, I didn't ask. It'd make me seem greedy-…" Her eyes seemed to light up. "Wait. Do you think they have _apple_ ice-cream?"

"For your health and my sanity's sake, I hope not." Naruto glanced up to see that the sun was about to set. "We should head back, before they start sending out a search party or something."

"All right." Hardly had she finished her answer when Naruto's watch started beeping in a repetitive alarm. He regarded it with extreme interest while he turned it off, something the kunoichi took note of. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Doesn't look that way. And why did that alarm go off? Don't you normally use alarms to help you wake up or something?"

"Well, why do you have to ask so many questions, huh?" Naruto said shortly.

"Well, why won't you answer them?" Kin defended. "Call me nosy, but yes, it _does_ look like something's wrong, that alarm was meant as a some kind of warning and it sure as hell wasn't being used to wake up anyone."

"Well…you're smart." Naruto finished off his ice-cream and started eating the cone. "Figure it out."

Kin stopped to think a while before her face lit up as she thought she had the right answer. "Well, there's this movie I've heard about. It has some guy who's like, I dunno, the last human being or something. He uses a wristwatch alarm to warn him to go home before dusk, 'cause that's when these nightmarish creatures start prowling-" **(3)**

"Could you…um…fast-forward to when you'll tell me what you think the answer is?" Naruto started humming as he walked. The way he moved suggested urgency, but Kin lagged behind on purpose. "Hey, get the lead out of your shoes and let's go!"

"Are you imitating that guy?" Kin spoke with conviction.

"No."

"Have to feed a pet you haven't told me about?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Somewhere to go to?"

"Um…home? No. Try again."

Now, she was certain she had the right answer. "You're scared of the dark."

"Nani?! Of course not! I'm brave, dattebayo!"

"Well, you're scared." She said knowingly, thoroughly expecting him to crack if she kept on teasing him about the wrong thing.

"I'm **not** scared."

"You are!"

"Not."

As they walked along in the falling night, deep down, they knew that they hadn't a care in the world. Of course, issues lingered and problems waited to show themselves once more, but they were safely ignored. Not to mention, their mirth was fairly contagious to other passersby; they took no notice.

At last, Naruto submitted. "Fine, fine! Damn it, woman! It's because it's my bedtime." He glanced at his watch, only to discover that he could barely see the hands; he realized that it was that _dark_. Dark meant _late_. "Crap. Six pm came and gone."

"Your bedtime's at six pm? Are you a toddler?" Kin asked, dumbfounded. They cut through the park as Naruto led them by his minor speed surfeit but to his chagrin, the girl took a seat on a nearby bench, maneouvering her tall head of hair to one side so that it didn't impede her.

"Hey, c'mon, get up! We need to hurry!" Tsuchi ignored the boy's episode and remained seated; leaning back comfortably to show that she had no intention of moving. "What do you have against my bedtime, anyway?"

"A _bedtime?_ You see? This is the kind of behavior that shows that you really are a toddler." She looked up into the sky; the ink hadn't fully spilled all over it from the east, but stars were beginning to make themselves seen little by little. While the sun had already set, an orange vestige could still be seen in the far west. "Hmm…"

"I knew you were a bad influence!"

"I thought you liked it." Her response sounded too innocent, perhaps even too coy. "Besides, it's not like you've got somewhere to go to early tomorrow."

Maybe far away from you, was his main thought. He seated himself beside her but didn't dare to recline.

"Just look at it." She pointed up towards the firmament. "Since your little beddy-bye is at six pm, I bet that you've never even seen that."

He followed her finger. "See what, Kin-chan?"

"I'm not gonna get all sappy and start talking about sunsets and whatnot," the kunoichi said shortly. "But I bet you've never even seen night fall. Hell, maybe even a nighttime sky."

"I _have_ seen a nighttime sky before," the boy defended.

"When?"

"Um…times like this when I was smaller. The only thing different is that there wasn't an annoying girl making my life difficult."

"I _will_ use my senbon on you. Don't try me." The threat sounded half-serious. That was enough 'seriousness' for the boy to respect.

"Oooh, scary." He clammed up shortly after that, resolving to just enjoy the silence. She, likewise.

And the company. She enjoyed the company. His.

 **=X=X=**

The Hokage studied the pair. Nothing seemed unusual; that was good. Either that, or his keen eye for observation had diminished. The man silently hoped that he was right about the former being true.

In interruption, the secretary let herself into the room and frowned, one that was severe enough to let the man know that he was slipping up, but not enough to disrespect his office. "Hokage-sama. The paperwork I dropped off on your desk is still untouched. Those need to be sorted out by tomorrow so they can get to whomever they concern!"

Hiruzen got fed up quickly; his anger at this particular predicament had risen ever since Kakashi had basically called him a secretary. Quickly flowing through a few handseals, the man created a small katon technique; he blew fire that reduced the paperwork to ashes in mere moments before turning back to his secretary, as if daring her to challenge what he did. "They're _**sorted**_."

The woman shook a little. "Errm…hai, Hokage-sama. They are." She hurried let herself out while he returned his attention to the one document he had purposefully left unscathed.

Kin's report to Anko.

He skimmed through it quickly, sure that it was normal run-of-the-mill recounting. However, he soon found himself reading through it again, far more carefully. Then again. Then again. And again.

"She _poisoned_ her comrades?" He quickly read through her reasons. Yes, she had to neutralize the threat they posed. Yes, she needed to get Naruto's cell key. Yes, it was efficient and easy.

But…

"All we found was Orochimaru's body. There was no one else there. Either the girl is lying…" Sarutobi reached for his pipe and lit up somberly, inhaling deeply on the fired tobacco. "Either she lied, or they're all still _**alive**_."

 **Well, that's scene. The chapter's crammed with a lot of dialogue, a bit of it OOC but hey, the ship set sail, am I right?**

 **1 – (Living Twice) Obviously a poke at the story's title.**

 **2 – Culture violation; Ice creams exists. (Not to mention, saki-and-raisin…? A reference to rum-and-raisin, a personal favorite.)**

 **3 – Kin's guess (about why he wanted to go home early) was a reference to the movie 'I am Legend'. I don't own, therefore, I must be broke.**

 **I believe I've already informed some of you already; I have no intention of continuing this fic into shippuden. Frankly, writing about a Naruto who can fight anyone just by knowing the future would make fights rather boring, anyway. Not to mention, having a girlfriend who could probably do the same thing would make them too frickin' OP.**

 **So rather than to contend with that, you'll have to understand if I have to rush the relationship a bit, to finalize it by the time the fic ends. It's very unlike me, goes against my policy and what-not, but it's going to be necessary. Still doesn't mean I'm gonna put them in bed to start going at it like rabbits just to make them closer, though, especially not anytime soon. Sorry, lemon lovers. Have some cookies in the meantime.**

 **I guess that's it. Take care.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Living Twice**

 **You know, back when I was heavy reader, I used to say: 'what's with these updates that are so far apart'?**

 **Now I say: 'What story to update next? Too many stories, too little time.'**

 **Besides, the computer was being retentive for a whole month; I couldn't even sign in at the log on screen after booting it up. Had to do a whole damn re-install of Windows. Files still intact, though. Giving thanks for all the little blessing, as well as the big ones. But fact of the matter is, I'll never abandon a fic.**

 **To** **YOU** **: MRAY's tired. But I hope you enjoy the chapter; I hope you all are. It's a part of my Universal Update, and suffice to say, it's a bit time intensive. Good thing I enjoy writing fanfiction, no? It's good to be back. In any case, leave a review on your thoughts, likes, peeves and whatnot.**

 **Disclaimer: Naruto, I own'eth…not.**

 **26.**

They both walked up the half-empty street, strolling and speaking in whispers. While they did, they hardly took notice of the Anbu guards assigned to watch over them. They also didn't really take in consideration the couples that seemingly littered street benches in quiet company, or the more hormonal ones that melded with each other in the in the pseudo-privacy of the side alleys.

Well, in actuality, they did notice; Naruto's eyes more than once passed over the couples on the benches, and Kin stole voyeuristic glances at the ones in the alleys. Naruto was wondering if he'd ever be like that one day, while Kin was wondering if Naruto would be doing the nasty to her anytime soon. She still hadn't told him.

'Mirai and Rekishi…' She mused in silence, before his voice intruded on it.

"A ryo for your thoughts?"

His simple comment broke her out of her musings. "Hmm?"

"A ryo for your thoughts?" He repeated. "What'cha thinking about?"

"A ryo?" She nearly scoffed. Kin thought of how risky it'd be to tell him; fact was stranger than fiction and she was sure that her dreams of the previous night was veritable. Strange and very veritable. But if one thing was certain, it was that their fates were inexplicably intertwined. She wasn't against it, but she wasn't exactly wanting to get with the program either. But she might as well have a bit of fun either way. "Just a ryo? That's it?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's what I can afford. I'm not exactly rolling in money, not to mention, I treated you to ice cream. Seeing that, I figure that you owe _me_."

"Hey, you know the saying. 'If you save all day, you'll have a ryo'." At her saying this, he begrudgingly reached into his pocket and pulled out a ryo from its recesses, grumbling the whole time. "Thank you for your business."

"You trying to clean me out for all I've got, aren't you? I wasn't even being literal with the whole 'ryo for your thoughts' thing."

She shook her head in amusement. "Whatever." Her countenance became more serious. "I was thinking of Mirai and Rekishi."

"Those two names again?" Naruto asked, feeling confusion beginning to creep in. He turned the names over in his mind, trying to elucidate what they meant. "Mirai… and Rekishi? 'Future' and 'History'? What kinds of names are those?"

Kin didn't respond.

"Kin-chan?" The boy raised his hood from off his face. It was a bit of a risk; there were streetlights that shone in their interval spaces, their illuminating lights revealing his feral-looking visage. But despite all of that, she could see that he was begging-…silently, for answers. "Kin-chan? What about them?"

Kin stopped walking. Naruto came to a stop as well, waiting for a response. With sheer reluctance, she gave her riposte. "Mirai's a girl. Rekishi is a boy. They're siblings, and Mirai's the elder of the two."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know them. It's the first I'm hearing of them. You know, besides this afternoon when you first started talking about them."

"You don't know them…" Kin said coolly, as if in agreement. "You don't know them…yet."

"Yet?" Naruto looked up in surprise.

"They're your children."

And so, the bombshell was dropped.

"Huh…?" Naruto stared at the girl in skepticism at first, wondering if she had lost her mind, but it gradually turned into horrid disbelief as he realized that she was being honest about what she said. "What?! That's insane! I'm still a virgin, and a kid! How can I have children?!" He didn't care about what he was yelling in public; he was like a fanatic about his stance on the matter. "And who's the mother, huh? Damn, this must be some other queer way the village is trying to make me look bad. Who could say something like that-…?!"

Kin's eyebrow twitched violently. "I did! And it's me! I'm the mother!"

The Uzumaki's jaw dropped. "What the hell, Kin-chan?! Is this some kind of twisted joke? 'Cause it's not funny, believe me!"

"I'm serious!"

"Oh…so this is a first…a father siring children without ever having sex." Naruto threw up his hands in exasperation. "This had better have a damned good punch-line, 'cause if it passed me by already, you're going to have to explain it to me. I don't care if that's going to spoil the joke, because this is not making any sense!" He leaned in closer towards her and stared at her waist. "No baby bulges. No post-pregnancy fat, either!" He then pointed at her breasts. "Your lady lumps haven't grown. It's supposed to get bigger and most women go up by a cup size. I've read about things like these in Oji-san's waiting room when I was smaller! I'm no dunce!"

"You know what?" Kin started walking away. "Forget I said anything!" 'Damn, and here I thought he would have been more mature about this. But maybe he's right… sort of. There's no guarantee that the dream was a vision.' Seeing the girl briskly walk away surprised Naruto… and his emotions were already running on the crazier bandwidth. Given the girl's 'joke', her implications of him being a father of two children and her being the mother, who could blame him?

"Kin-chan?" He ran to catch up with her. "What's this all about?"

No response.

"Look! I don't understand. Help me understand!"

Kin sighed deeply, deciding that it would be justified if she explained herself, although she was hoping she wouldn't be sticking her foot in her mouth. "It was a sunny day," she started, looking forward as she walked. Her eyes glazed over a bit as she recalled the event more and more vividly. "I was at home, cooking _bansan_. At some point, I looked to Rekishi; a small boy. He…" Kin smiled at this good-naturedly. "He looked like a chibi version of how you look right now, without all the beast-vibes you've got going on, and he had my eyes. But somehow, I got the feeling that he was a lot sharper than his age, even though he looked like he was six years old."

"How'd you gather that?" For the time being, he still had no idea what this was all about, nor did he know where it was going. But he was humoring her. He might get a chance to figure out what this was all about.

"He was doing a sudoku puzzle in **pen** at the kitchen table," Kin remarked simply. (1) "And he was talking about you as if it were something trivial. I didn't pay much attention to it. It was starting to make even my head hurt. But for some reason, I found it endearing, like I was proud of him for being like that."

"Your son?" Naruto raised his eyebrow in growing skepticism.

"Our son." Kin corrected. "He was explaining something about 'the nature of the chunin exams', and that was when Mirai came in-"

"Pardon, but there's something I've gotta ask," Naruto interrupted. "How did you know their names? That they're your…" He paused. "I mean…our children?" He was still on his side about this. She still had yet to explain this fully.

"I don't really know…" Kin said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure myself. Instincts? Memories I had of my past while I was an adult? I just… knew."

She lost him. Most of what waning interest he'd had was gone.

"Anyway, Mirai came in through the door. She looked like me, I guess. Her hair was kinda tall for an eight year old, but she had a few gray hairs going down her temple. I don't know why, though. But the thing is, it's like she ran in through a closed door. And she looked a bit 'unreal' when she did it. It kinda freaked me out when I saw that; it reminded me of us back in the clothing store when we went to that freaky zone where you got your powers."

Naruto chuckled as he heard this. "Heh heh. Lingerie aisle."

Kin frowned like a thunderstorm when she heard this. "I didn't find it all that funny at the time."

"Hey, I'm sorry. Besides, I already told you that my visions were telling me to bluff like that-" Naruto froze when he heard this. "Holy crap…" Kin smiled tersely when she saw the look of realization on his face. "What you're talking about right now… was it a _vision_?"

"Yeah. Guess you realize that now, huh?" The boy swallowed thickly as more and more blood left his face. On auto, his mind was already trying to think of ways to discredit the girl, to prove that she wasn't correct. But what could he say?

"Sure that it wasn't just a normal dream?"

Kin shook her head. "No. Anyway, Mirai was a bright-eyed eight year old girl. I just had an inclination to think that she was an easy-going child, but she was mischevious. I started to nag her about using the door, or to at least knock first, but she said that would ruin the surprise. I asked her 'what surprise?', even though I had a feeling that I knew already."

Naruto knew that he was going to be knocked for a loop. "…Uh huh?"

"It's like she did one of your crazy time tricks and pulled a cake out of thin air. "She said 'happy birthday kaa-chan!' I nearly lost it right there. That was when you did the same thing like she did. You just came in out of thin air like it was nothing weird at all. I dunno… I got the feeling that we were just a bunch of time-manipulating weirdoes. But I liked it."

"…Errm…" Naruto fumbled with his words. "W-what d-d-did I d-do?"

The girl blushed hotly, deciding to just be completely straightforward. "You hugged me from behind and kissed me on the cheek. Then I turned my head and looked at you-"

"What did I look like, Kin-chan?" Naruto interjected, in a moment of innocent curiosity. He ignored Kin's annoyance, for the time being at least. "W-well?"

"As ugly as you are now," Kin mumbled wryly.

"Hey!"

"More to the point, you gave me an apple and you said…" Kin vividly recalled what Naruto had told her in the dream/vision; she covered her face with her hands and it didn't escape the boy's notice that he could see tears leaking from between the spaces of her fingers and run down, dripping lightly to the ground. The boy didn't know what to do; he merely patted her lightly on the shoulder.

"If I said something bad, I'll kick my own ass right now, dattebayo!"

Kin shook her head before pulling away her hands, trying to hold in her laughter at his ridiculous promise. She was wearing the faintest of smiles and her eyes reflecting amusement. "It was completely messed up and weird! You were being cheap and all, but I appreciated the sentiment. It was then that you wished me a happy twenty-fifth birthday."

"I…what?" Naruto blinked. "What's the issue? Like ten or so years from now…? Wait-" He began to do the math, but she cut him off.

"Mirai was eight years old in the vision. I hit fifteen about four months ago."

"Wait-..." Naruto's eyes widened. "Don't tell me that-"

"I'm going to become another teenage mother statistic, but more to the point, I'm going to have a family. We're going to have a family. I'm going to be the mother of your first child, within the next two-and-a -half years."

Well… damn.

 **=X=X=**

His eyes rolled around briefly underneath his eyelids before they exploded open. His gut gave the promise of rapture, and it was delivered as he leaned over the side of the bed he was in and puked in a nearby bucket. It went on for a little longer; his head ached and the back of his throat stung with bile.

If he had been vomiting a few times, it wouldn't have been so bad. But he couldn't retain anything: dumplings, soups, water. It didn't matter. It went in one way, and came back out the same way.

"Fuck me! I've gotta stop using this Melody Arm on people!" Dosu groaned as he thought of all the times he had won fights using the gauntlet. "Shit!"

"Yeah? Well, grow a pair, man. You're the only person still puking your guts out." Zaku sat drinking a large bottle of water in an effort to replace the fluids he had lost in the past day. He dropped the bottle from his lips once more and regarded his nauseous teammate. "I figured you'd be the least affected by it, you know? Like a guy who'd set out to use poison would try to train himself to be immune to it?"

"Well, in hindsight, wasn't it a good thing that I wasn't immune?" Dosu murmured before he ran a hand over his mouth to wipe away the traces of vomit. "Otherwise, I'd be dead by now. I'm not like Jirobo. He took the poison and didn't vomit out any of the shitty cyanide. He still digested the whole meal and still managed to lug us out of the base through the secret exit, and I know that the sealed door's heavy."

"You don't sound too angry with that bitch. She fucking poisoned us, man!"

Dosu gave off the air that he was shrugging. "I'm mad too. But I guess we shoud've expected it. She was getting close to Naruto." On the inside, Dosu felt that he should be angry, or frustrated at least. But he couldn't bring himself to. It could be because he had come to view the girl like a sister since they came from similar backgrounds. Maybe he had… wanted her to escape Orochimaru? Come to think of it…

"Where's Orochimaru-sama?"

"I heard he had to do his self-healing technique," Zaku said quietly, not wanting his voice to carry outside of the small room they were in. "Naruto beat him, more or less. Guess all that bullcrap about the guy seeing the future isn't all that bogus. But if he could do that to Orochimaru-sama, who's to say that he can't do it again? Something's gotta change, man! The guy's what…fourteen, fifteen, maybe?"

"He hit fourteen while he was locked up in the cell," Dosu commented.

Zaku felt his anger spike. Kin and Naruto had gotten away. Whether it were clean or dirty, the results were still the same. They had escaped, and now he was still doomed to die, along with Dosu. Maybe it would have been for the best if he had fell to cyanide poisoning after all. A second later, the half-drunk glass bottle of water smashed against the far wall; he leapt to his feet, spewing vulgarities. "I'm gonna kill her, I shit you not!"

As he ranted in his fury, Orchimaru merely leaned on the wall outside the door, listening on. His face was the epitome of calm and serenity, but on the inside, his own anger was boiling; he hadn't been this angry since being discovered by the Hokage for doing his experiments-…no, he was angrier now.

Naruto was a clairvoyant?

Well, now things were starting to make sense. So that was how he was able to beat him? By being some sort of seer? That would explain his loss. Furthermore, while Naruto had entered a three-cloaked state, he hardly did anything of substance and power. Just an unrelenting onslaught. Also, while he had been 'thorough', if he had continued his battery on him, Orochimaru was sure that he would've died.

But the fact of the matter is, he had such an incredible ability and yet he didn't know? Had he been aware, he would've never have tried to use Naruto like some sort of Biju bomb. He was sure that he had done more than enough damage to his seal that kept back the Kyuubi; short of a miracle, the biju was going to escape in the near future. He was even sure that not even Jiraiya would be able to repair it; the seal was too far gone. And with the soft-hearted weak Hokage being who he was, he wouldn't kill the brat to even buy five or so years of time to come up with a new solution.

'Kuso! I usually don't leave things to chance! Why now?!' Breathing in and out deeply, Orochimaru tried to think logically. This was what had kept him going for so long-…his good sense of logic.

This had to be how the boy's father could be such a battlefield terror, right? A clairvoyant battle genius? That explained a lot. Why he sacrificed himself for the Kyuubi though, he had no idea. But besides the point, Naruto's gifts were sure to be hereditary and he wanted the boy's powers as his own, but how to go about gaining such a superb ability? Perhaps he could obtain his blood? Imbibe his DNA to mesh it with his own? Sperm sample samples to implant in his loyal kunoichis?

On the topic of loyal kunoichis, what should he do with Kin? Should he still endeavor to find a way use her and the team to manifest the previous Hokages to destroy the village? Or just spare her and wait to see if Naruto would get her pregnant? Who knew? If she could be converted, to be swayed to the Uzumaki's side, then there was something more than just mere friendship, correct?

But he couldn't wait so long. He might as well leave his body now… why wait for the next month or two to switch bodies? He couldn't take any chances.

Orochimaru made his leave, walking away. Kimimaro had been cured, at last. Furthermore to the point, it was time this snake shed and casted away its old skin and began anew with a fresh one.

 **=X=X=**

Naruto reached the large gate of the Kage's property, going through the motions while his mind was muddled. He barely had the cognition to hold the gate open properly for Kin to pass through, then allowing himself afterward. Kin wasn't much better than him, but she still managed the simple act of coherent speech. "So what happens now?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know. Are you sure that this wasn't just some weird dream? _Or a nightmare?_ " He asked the last under his breath.

"Are you against this?"

"I don't know, Kin-chan. It's not as if I'm rearing for this to happen!" The Uzumaki exclaimed. "We still don't know for sure if what you had was a vision, and we still don't know if it's credible. I mean… just look!" He threw out his arms in exasperation, before speaking in a hushed whisper. "My abilities. They're haywire because of my seal being messed up, so I don't know if I can even use them anymore, even though in your dream or vision or whatever-it-was showed that I was using them." Naruto felt completely assured by his own explanation it was even making himself feel better. "Then the _fore-experience_ visions each night…if we make a single mistake or change one thing, everything falls apart. One altered instance just starts one reaction that can change everything else! Anything and everything can happen between now and then and it would change what you saw. The future isn't set in stone and besides… I guess you could say that if even if it were, our specialty is smashing it to pieces."

Kin's face sulked. "So you don't want this." Naruto sighed when he heard this, before shaking his head.

"It's not that. It's freaking me out! Aren't you weirded out by this?"

"I am!" Kin defended. "But to be honest, it feels… alright. Like it just fits. Now that I've seen it, I can't really picture myself doing anything else. I can't see myself anywhere else. Like having a puzzle piece; it just matches perfectly in one spot and no matter how much I might like to see another piece in the spot, it's just not going to complement the rest of the puzzle."

"So you want something else?" The boy queried, paying more attention to her final statement. I wouldn't want a so-and-so vision to make you feel like your future is set like that." The girl folded her arms in annoyance as she saw through his ploy.

"No. It's because you don't want the vision to make you feel like **your** future is set out like that."

Naruto shrugged. "Says the girl that sounds like 'hey, I wanna be yo' wife and have your babies'. You don't even know if you like me like that. Do you?" Kin shook her head in response, making the boy feel more assured of his stance in the matter. "The same goes for me. I'm really not comfortable with this." Naruto sighed deeply. "I like you, ok? But we're friends. Good friends. We're not…spouses. We're not parents. We're not a family. I'm sorry."

Kin smiled good-naturedly as she began to laugh. "Geez. You're making this sound like some sort of break up. It's fine. I guess that I was getting ahead of myself too. Friends?" She held out her arms, as if to hug. He reciprocated the gesture eagerly.

"Friends," he agreed. They were like that for a while, but after releasing her, he realized that Kin hadn't mirrored his action. "Um…Kin-chan? Going to let go anytime soon?"

"In a minute," she mumbled as she leaned in closer. "Just testing something. Just bear with me, okay?"

Naruto felt a tinge of worry begin to well up inside him. "What're you talking about- _ **mmmph**_!" She had effectively shushed him as she pressed her lips against his. Although chaste, it felt… forced, for lack of a better word. Kin was searching, searching with her lips to see if there was anything even remotely hinting that her vision could be a reality, but if there was anything, it was faint. Briefly flaring a little for a millisecond, but nothing substantial. She soon withdrew from him, and it didn't escape her notice that he was taking his time letting her go. "Gomen. I was just checking to see if there was anything to say that we could even end up as a couple."

"Find anything?" The boy deadpanned, although the red tinting of his cheeks somewhat spoiled the serious effect.

The girl shrugged. "Not really." She started walking away, already hiding the almost non-existing smug expression she had, but in doing so, she missed seeing that the boy's already reddening complexion had gone as crimson as a tomato, his fingers at his lips as if checking (and absent-mindedly) trying to recreate the soft touch of her lips on his. "I'm going inside."

"Uh huh." Naruto started walking after her, and found that his wobbly legs could barely support his body and his heavy… head? … **F** _e_ **e** _l_ **i** _n_ **g** _f_ **a** _i_ **n** _t…_

Naruto's mind went blank; his legs forgot to walk, making him fall sideways into the garden that ran alongside the path.

 **=X=X=**

Naruto went about his pushups on his knuckles while Kin watched from the tree above him. "Sleep well? You didn't see anything marriage related, right?"

"Nope. Only foresaw today. I guess you could say that I'm starting to hate spoilers."

"Yeah?" Naruto grunted. "Join the club. But you'll get used to it eventually. It's the reason I don't watch television anymore. So aren't you going to train too?"

"Might as well do some aerobics. What did you dream about?"

"We sparred. What do you dream about?"

Kin shrugged. "We sparred. I don't feel like nursing bruises. I also know that you don't want to be pulling senbon needles out of your ass."

"Huh. It was painful, but you knew that you were going to lose anyway," the boy mumbled. "So… that's that." He continued in silence, but in actuality, just passing the time while he waited. His teammates were coming to this training ground soon, searching for him. They wanted answers. But the _fore-experience_ had denied it. He had lied to them in his vision. But in reality was where it all mattered. Should he lie to them?

'I don't know,' the boy thought the answer to himself. 'The _fore-experience_ isworking to my benefit. Isn't it? Should I tell them that I'm the jinchurki for the Kyuubi no Yōko? No? Which sides has more pros and less cons?'

Naruto was no fool. He knew that they could come to hate him as much as the village did. Having a team of people that hated you wasn't exactly great for team cohesion, not to mention the fact that he believed that they had come to be his friends. Why kill his friends? (Metaphorically, of course.)

So why tell them at all?

A coin fell onto the ground next to him, breaking him from his musings. "Huh? A ryo?"

"A ryo for **your** thoughts?" Kin called from the tree. She had noticed that the boy was in heavy thought, and had come up with a way to ease him out of it. Turnabout was fair, and an interesting way to calm people with irony.

"You know already." The boy got up from his strength exercise to sit on the ground, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. "They'll be here any minute and I still don't know if I should tell them or not. What do you think I should do?"

"We could always cut and run and duck them for the rest of your life."

"I thought you always gave good advice! That was horrible!" Kin smirked at his response while she shrugged.

"Oh well. It doesn't matter if we can see the future. That doesn't mean that we're _perfect_."

"But that's not going to stop me from trying to make the right one, Kin-chan. This is my team we're talking about!"

"I poisoned mine, so you can't ask me for advice about it," she said offhandedly, as if she didn't care. But Naruto thought the better of it.

"Nope. I don't think they are. I've been having weird visions in that cell about how the village got destroyed by Orochimaru and everyone who works for him. Maybe it won't matter anymore, since the Hebi's dead. But that doesn't mean that they couldn't have gotten away. I mean, even the fatass Jirobo escaped, so why can't they. But regardless, they could be in hiding. I'll tell Oji-san later. But about now, I'm going to tell them." Naruto half-closed his eyes, deep in thought. "I'm going to tell them."

"I'll be right here when you tell them, Naruto-kun. But after that, feel like doing anything?" Kin asked, almost shyly. "You know? Just to kill time?" The boy looked up at this and grinned.

"Sure!"

 **Whoa… I… Well, I just did that. I'm kinda impressed with myself. In fact, I myself can't wait to read it later!**

 **1 – Sudoku comes from Japan and consists of the Japanese characters 'Su' (meaning 'number') and 'Doku' (meaning 'single') but was not invented in Japan. Sudoku originated in Switzerland and then traveled to Japan by way of America. Well, that's what Uncle Google tells me anyway. If you feel like delving further in the topic, go ask someone else.**

 **\- Today was the twenty-sixth day. The exam's on the thirtieth. This little trivial bit is mostly for me; helps me to keep track. And a deadline to rush a decent amount of romance, more or less. In any case, I'm going to leave the shipping alone for a while to move on with the plot. The romance should be secondary, anyway. The first objective is writing a time fic. A weird one that has the plot so far up in your face that you can't see all the details. Take a step back. Like a few chapters ago.**

 **Valete!**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Living Twice**

 **I have no excuses. For anyone still here (or awake), welcome back and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not one of those people who wipe themselves with money like Scrooge McDuck or like Kishimoto. It's because I don't own Naruto. Go figure.**

 **27.**

He was a tall and well-built man, dressed in a short green shirt-kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh-armor that was clearly visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore a red haori with two yellow circles, hand guards, a black belt and traditional geta sandals. However, his most outstanding features were the red lines weaving below his eyes, and his face framed by two shoulder-length bangs of white spiky hair and a hitai ate which proclaimed 'Oil'. Hiruzen looked up from his paperwork in mild surprise when he saw him and turned to the window.

It was still closed.

"If for once you've used the door, I suppose you realize how serious this is, Jiraiya," the Kage stated, clasping his hands and intercrossing the fingers repeatedly. It was a sign that the Gama Sennin noted well; over the years, his teacher seldom made the gesture, and only did so when he was very upset or worried. "You understood all of the details I could afford to spare in the message?"

"It took a lot longer than usual to decipher," Jiraiya admitted. "It was obvious that you **really** didn't want anyone to find out apart from me."

The elder shook his head as he thought of the difficult cipher he had used to code the message. "It was truly a necessary measure. But those weren't the _only_ important details."

"What could be more important than **this** , Sarutobi-sensei?" Jiraiya, on reflex concerning their security, pulsed his chakra in an effort to sense if anyone else was in their direct proximity. Although he wasn't a sensor, it was enough. Not even his teacher's ANBU guards were around, and there was at least four sound suppressing seals blanketing the room. Jiraiya was sure that even two was a tad overkill when one was sure to have been enough. "What could be _more_ **important** than the boy's seal being compromised...?"

"Orochimaru was the one who degraded Naruto's seal. I myself thought that the **Shiki Fūjin** was invincible, hence why Naruto was a true prison to the Kyuubi whereas other villages had problems concerning possessions and control. Now… that's clearly no longer the case."

"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Here in the village? But why would he want to damage Naruto's seal? Surely, there aren't any benefits. None that I know of, at least."

"I'll admit that the boy is partially to blame about the Hebi's afflictions on him. He knew that he was in the village, but remained tight-lipped." Sarutobi got out of his seat, pacing behind his desk as he thought of how to explain the situation. "It was over some kunoichi. Apparently, she's of great consequence to him, and the reason why is yet to be seen."

"Puppy love?" Jiraiya could hardly believe his ears. His godson fell for an enemy kunoichi? It wasn't exactly pleasing to hear, although had the situation had been different, Jiraiya was sure that the relationship would have had good material for his side-profession of being a novelist. "He endangered himself over an infatuation?"

"I don't believe it was an infatuation, but as of last night, I may now have reason to believe otherwise. That is, infatuated with one another. Before we digress, he did it because of his reasoning. Naruto claimed that he was following instructions."

Jiraiya felt the last shred of his patience evaporate; it was all he could do to keep himself from shouting. " **Whose** _instructions_ …?!" He hissed. "What's going on? You're hardly making any sense…!"

Hiruzen took a deep breath and exhaled. The act reminded him that he needed his pipe, but he'd indulged in it far too much as of late to keep himself calm. Any more immoderation of it and he would become dependent on it. "Naruto has the ability to _see_ the _future_. The details surrounding it is rather disconcerting-…" The Kage paused when he saw his student's face darken, realizing that the man was just as surprised to hear this. "This is rather sudden, but it is true."

"…Is this a joke? Sarutobi-sensei?" Jiraiya spat after he gathered his bearings on the discussion. "The closest people to even come close to being clairvoyants were the Uchihas! And that _surely_ wasn't the case, as they got butchered in one night…! All they had was a faster perception of time-"

"What about the Great Toad, Jiraiya?" The Fire Shadow nearly grinned in self-satisfaction. "Did he not give prophecies?"

"That, I can concede, even though they were a bit too damn vague sometimes," Jiraiya agreed reluctantly as he took a seat on his mentor's desk, ignoring the fact that it was a social misstep. "So… what? He sees the future or something, and tries to make it happen or prevents? And during his attempts to further his own agendas, he ignores the protocol and decorum of the Village? Its rules? What we stand for?"

"You've hit the nail on the head," Hiruzen answered whilst nodding. "Apparently, he can foresee the immediate future so long as he's asleep." Jiraiya's eyebrows lifted nearly completely past his forehead in disbelief at this, but he remained silent so as to allow the Kage could continue. "His most effective and longstanding way of doing this is by sleeping for a total of twelve hours, from six pm until six am. By doing so, he's thoroughly anticipated his entire day from six am until six pm. After that, the cycle continues from there."

"That's… _incredible_!" Jiraiya could barely contain himself. "It has no adverse effect on his mind? No strain? No need to rest it with dreamless sleep? Think of the potential…!" Before he could go on, the Hokage stopped him by raising a hand.

"There's more. He not only sees the future, but the ability somehow guides him in his actions to bring about the best potential outcome. It not only shows him the future but also **instructs** him. While this particular aspect concerns me to a fair degree, Naruto's admitted to acting outside of its will, hence why he's committed several acts which he dubs as 'mistakes' in the past. Otherwise, the records of his actions are impeccable. Sound judgment, fighting tactics and the like. But I'll get to that later. His seal…"

Jiraiya scratched his chin "Let me guess. You want me to try my best to fix his seal, not just to save him and the village from going up in flames, but because his ability's now a powerful asset-"

"To be perfectly frank," the Hokage began, "yes. And I've had a disquisition with Kakashi about it-"

"Kakashi? He knows about this? Who else?" The Toad Sage demanded. Why would there be such a high degree of security in this dialogue when there were already others who knew? While Kakashi was a reliable shinobi, Jiraiya had to know of any other risks of information leakage. "Does anyone else know? His other squad members? Other jounins?"

"Thank Kami, no. Only two of my most trusted ANBU who guard Naruto, Kakashi, Anko, and the girl herself."

"The enemy kunoichi? Are you sure that she's not posing any threat to him or cause information declassification?" He looked down at the man's desk and saw a profile document laying on top of the pile of paperwork. Upon which, he saw a few pictures of a kunoichi stamped to it and gestured to them. "Is this her?" He read the name below. "'Tsuchi Kin'. Is she from Otogakure? That's Orochimaru's den, isn't it?"

Hiruzen nodded curtly. "In all honesty, I don't fully trust her. However, in her current stance of being close to Naruto, she's keeping him mollified, and the Kyuubi in check as a result. She's not a replacement for the seal, but as you know, the Kyuubi uses negative emotions as a catalyst. He's attached to her."

"So she's basically a damn retardant for the gaki's wilder side?" Jiraiya kept his personal feelings in reins. Now wasn't the time for thinking about his books. "So she's useful. _For now_ , at least. What else?"

Hiruzen sighed. "Keeping her around temporarily is out of the question, although securing her would be essential. It's been grasped that she now shares in Naruto's abilities. She has them too. Why, they're still unable to fully explain, mainly because they themselves don't entirely know themselves."

"…What the fu-"

"And about what I've been speaking about with Kakashi, he strongly believes that Naruto's gifts are hereditary. He might've inherited it from Minato. It's a strong hypothesis, and I believe it."

"His father. Makes sense. With the ability to teleport… and knowledge of the immediate future…" Jiraiya was now glad that he'd taken a seat. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was close to passing out, and it wasn't even from a fight or getting too drunk… or being beaten to a smear under Tsunade's fists. "So what's the summary? We've got two brats who can see the future, one that's…" His eyes quickly scanned the report, "basically a defector to Konoha and the other one's a damn time-bomb. And… we're gonna allow 'em to stick together just because they mesh well? And hopefully, in the future, we'll have a generation of ninjas who can see the future…?" He waited for his elder to make a rebuttal, but the man was silent for a long time, too long in fact. This only served to make Jiraiya's doubts and uneasiness increase, wondering when all of this mess started and where its epicenter was.

"The last is just wishful thinking. For now, having the village and both Naruto and Kin secure is enough. The least of an allowable disaster to pass would be that of Uzumaki's death to prevent the Kyuubi from escaping to wreak havoc and to be fair, that is **not** an option."

"You know, Sarutobi-sensei?" Jiraiya got off the table and made his way to the window, sliding it open. "I'm going to speak candidly. This was one _**fucked**_ up briefing."

Hiruzen said nothing. What could he say? He was right, after all. But in any case, there was one thing that he was glad that Jiraiya had forgotten to bring up. _Orochimaru._

But it didn't matter. Naruto killed him, so at least he wasn't a factor anymore. Not to mention, Hiruzen had confirmed the kill and then _ensured_ that he was dead. Orochimaru was dead, right? His remaining underlings who got away weren't much of a wildcard; besides, Jiraiya was more than enough of a protection detail in the event that they felt suicidal enough to show themselves.

As for Orochimaru… Hiruzen had effectively burnt his bridges with him as much as he had incinerated his corpse. At this thought, the elderly Kage allowed himself a smile to creep on his wizened face. His wayward student wasn't around anymore. While he would have liked to have been directly responsible to kill him himself, he was still content. Perhaps Naruto's gaffes at protocol really had turned out for a greater good after all. But what would become of _him_ when everything was said and done?

Even Hiruzen was doubtful of Jiraiya being able to fix the seal; it was that far gone. But he hoped regardless.

 **=X=X=**

"Ohayo."

"Good morning to you too, Sakura." Naruto's gaze wandered over to his male teammate. "You too, Sasuke."

Said Uchiha merely nodded in greeting. Naruto tried to read his expression, but there was none to be seen; if he was going that far to hide how he was truly feeling on the inside then it was, beyond doubt, very serious. Nonetheless, Naruto already knew what this was about, although it did not lessen his anxiety about it. In an effort to calm himself, he took up his carbine and began to reload it. It was mostly a long-ish pipe variant of his mugshot, save for the fact that it was an accurate version and much easier to use.

With his focus centered on his task, he was mostly able to ignore his teammates' stares; he could tell that they wanted to address the most immediate issue, but it was Sakura who neglected to do so, deciding to refer to the final person present. "Who's this, Naruto?" She pointed at Kin who sat cross-legged on the ground, sorting through explosive notes. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Naruto held his carbine akimbo and nodded. "Her name's Kin. She's a good friend of mine." He gestured to both Sakura and Sasuke. "Kin-chan, these are my teammates, Sakura and Sasuke."

"…" Kin looked up from what she was doing to regard the two newcomers. "… A pleasure."

Even though Sakura returned the courtesy, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she studied her. Had Naruto known this person for that long to use the affectionate so freely? There was no jealousy, but Naruto had known her (Sakura) for a much longer time, and he still wasn't that familiar or comfortable enough to use it in tandem with her name.

Furthermore, this wasn't the first time she'd seen her. Come to think of it, wasn't she in the chunin exams? If anything, she recognized the girl by means of her long head of hair-… someone from another village. What was the symbol? A musical note, wasn't it?

Things just kept getting stranger.

And why was Naruto so comfortable? If he was being so lax, then it was surely because he knew that both she and Sasuke were coming to address a particular issue, one that was centered on his looks.

If she had to pick only one adjective, she'd say that Naruto looked **nightmarish**. A feral visage consisting of his whisker-marks ( _birthmarks_?) becoming deeply etched, fangs that were clearly visible even as he spoke normally, red eyes with slit-pupils and wild hair. Besides the fact that he'd apparently known of their suspicions, he was clearly coming out in the open about it by not wearing a henge as he'd done previously. Despite his current standoffish nature, he was presenting himself bared as if he didn't care.

"I told my sensei that a B-ranked tag is too much of an explosive force," Naruto told Kin. "And he said that since I need more power than my usual C-ranked tags, I'll have to use multiple D-ranked tags to get more than a 'C', but less than a 'B'. What kind of a force are we going for? A force I can handle, or a force the weapon can manage without breaking apart, or the minimum that I need to put somebody down?"

"Meh. Depends," Kin argued. "I mean, people like Orochimaru could probably survive any shot less than the force a B-rank explosive, right? Is there such a thing as a 'minimum' in a world like this? What's the highest threshold? What the weapon can manage, or what you can manage?"

"What the weapon can manage is more than what I can manage," Naruto admitted. "When I fired this one, the kick from it hurt my shoulder and it was even padded at the time. It was a just one C-rank tag-"

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled suddenly, rudely interrupting the blond. "You know why we're here, don't you?" Seeing Naruto's unsurprised reaction to his yell, the Uchiha began to laugh to himself. "You've always known, haven't you? The Academy. Our missions. The Chunin Exams. Every single fight you've been in, every single occasion, every _single day_!" The boy roared. "You're so **fuckin** ' perfect at everything! So tell me, Kami-sama, _Oracle_ boy, Fortune-teller Uzumaki!" At the mere mention of these names, Kin looked up sharply, wondering if the Uchiha was privy to the boy's secret. No… he sounded as if he was trying to come to terms with the boy's decision-making and the like. Naruto noticed his friend's spike in misgiving and shook his head before turning to Sasuke.

"I'm none of those people, Sasuke."

"I don't know who, _**WHAT**_ the hell you are!" Sasuke yelled. "I saw through your henge yesterday, and today you look exactly you did then!" Before he could say any more, Sakura held up her arm to stop him before he could take the argument too far in the wrong direction.

"Take it easy, Sasuke-kun. We can't force him to tell us something he doesn't want to!"

"You can't!" The irate youth bellowed. "But _I_ can!" He still had his sparring memory in mind, wondering if he could actually beat it out of his teammate, but to his shock, the girl that was seated on the ground got up, her glare almost as menacing as Orochimaru's own, though it lacked the presence. It hardly mattered, as she had one of Naruto's creative weapons in hand, a pole-like one, and pointed the open end at him. Sasuke felt a cold bead of sweat sprout on his brow when he recognized the threat it warranted and dared not to move.

"Pride is a dangerous thing, Sasuke-san," Kin said evenly. However, before the tension of situation escalated into a full-blown fight, she lowered the weapon without anyone's edict. "Why didn't you just ask him?"

That easy? Sasuke ground his teeth in a grimace as his head swiveled to regard Naruto. "I didn't come here to dirty my mouth talking to you!" He turned to Naruto, his sharingan now unconsciously activating to accentuate the fact that he was an emotional mess on the inside. "I want to know what you're hiding from us! We've been through thick and thin! Me, you, and Sakura!" Sasuke's outburst had been expected, but it still threw Naruto off; he'd hardly come to expect that the Uchiha would be the one to speak of such things. "We've had our lives out in the open, and yet, you've been the most secretive! Don't you trust us?"

This was enough to make Naruto lose his patience. "I don't have to explain myself, or my reasons. The fact of the matter is… I'm a jinchuriki. I'm basically a prison for the Kyuu…" He trailed off, wondering if he'd lost tact. "I don't really know what I'm doing anymore. I'm not like the guy you knew as a teammate." He handed his carbine to Kin, who bundled it with the second one she had and placed it aside. She watched him carefully, wondering why he wasn't following the exact dialogue she'd had foreseen last night. They'd earlier established that they shared the same visions from their own perspectives, and the details remained the same. If that was the case, why was he meandering from the direct topic?

Was that a good thing, or not?

"Naruto-kun?" She hazarded the call to get his attention. "You're going against the instruction of-"

"I don't care!" Naruto blurted as he stopped short to turn to her. "They're my teammates! We fought together, we ate together, we slept together, we conquered the _impossible_ together! They're my… _friends_." The word sounded strange in his mouth as he thought of the two. He'd always believed that Sakura hated him as much as her high regard for Sasuke, and he'd thought that the Uchiha was too stuck up to even be worth spitting at. Things and times change, Naruto realized, like his own teammates and himself. Not to mention, if his teammates didn't care about him anymore, then it wouldn't matter all that much anyway. What were two more people who hated him for his curse worth anyway? He already had a village who wished he'd just die and leave them alone. Two more to add to thousands of people wouldn't make a difference. But two more to the handful of people who cared for him would… he hoped that they would. "Sakura, Sasuke." He turned to each in turn as he called their names. "I don't even know where to begin." He fell backward onto his rear in the grass, resting in the shade. "Damn."

"If you don't want to tell us, then don't." Sakura mirrored his actions, seating herself in front of him. "We've got a few secrets too, you know. I'm not gonna just come out with it for everyone to know. I bet even Sasuke should have a few too."

"Hn." The boy made his usual grunt before leaning against the trunk of the large tree. "Whatever."

"See? Anyone who talks like that _has_ to be hiding a whole bunch of secrets." Sakura smiled to herself at this, wondering if she should break into the Uchiha's house to see if he kept anything like a journal or anything of the sort. While far-fetched, it might offer her an opportunity to find out more about him. Before her mind wandered anymore, she bit the inside of her cheek. 'Focus, Sakura. This is about Naruto, here.' "We can let it go. Right, Sasuke-kun?"

Naturally, the raven-haired youth was about to disagree but thought the better of it. "…Fine."

"I'll tell you, okay? That's why I didn't wear my henge like yesterday! I trust you two!" The Uzumaki insisted. "But you can't tell anyone about this. If you do, your heads will roll. It's basically an S-ranked secret to our generation, and if the Hokage or any ninja catch you spilling the secret or even mentioning that there's an S-ranked secret about me, they'll slit your throat, no questions asked. It's the law."

"…The fuck…?"

"I really don't think it's worth knowing, then." Sakura was about to get up, but Naruto grabbed her hand, preventing her from doing so. "Hmm? Naruto? What're you doing-"

"It's better you find out sooner instead of later." Visions of himself releasing the Kyuubi that went on to destroy the Leaf Village were still fresh in his mind, despite his belief that it'd been averted because of the death of Orochimaru. He was still expected to give a complete written report of what had happened during his imprisonment, as his oral one was only to inform the Hokage an outline what had happened to him. But if this helped to ensure that there would and could be a disaster later, his teammates had to know. They wouldn't have questions. They wouldn't have dangerous pursuits of knowledge which could only increase their ignorance, finding out secrets from faulty sources and who knew what else. "In case I'm dispatched to prevent a disaster. So that you aren't fed any lies about what's happened to me if things go wrong."

"Dispatch? Like being sent on a mission?" Sasuke asked, wondering what the big deal was.

"No." Sakura's tone became grim, second-guessing if she should hear him out after all. "Dispatch… as in 'executed'."

Naruto nodded. "Right. Remember, right from the start, Kakashi-sensei said we should get to learn more about each other to increase our cohesion. You two found out when my birthday was."

"October tenth…" Sasuke muttered.

"Wait… today's the twenty-sixth!" Sakura exclaimed. "We _missed_ it! Happy… belated…?" She rambled awkwardly. "You were in that prison cell when it happened, weren't you? Oh boy…"

"Sucks for him," Sasuke jibed with a smirk, schadenfreude thick in his tone. "Serves you right for trying to egg-and-flour me on _my_ birthday."

Naruto shook his head, grinning in amusement. "Whatever, you bastard." The moment soon left, and the Uzumaki resumed his explanation. "I just happened to be _conveniently_ born on the EXACT same day the Kyuubi decided to raze the village."

"So what's all this you said earlier about being a 'jinchukyu'…?" The Haruno asked, her mind running away from her freely. "And I think you were about to say 'Kyuubi' then?"

"'Jinchuriki'," The boy corrected. "I'm getting to that. I guess that after a while, my fa-" He stopped himself hastily, nearly mentioning that his father was fighting the Kyuubi. "The Yondaime must've had a hell-of-a-time trying to kill it, and realized that he couldn't. So, he must've decided that 'hey, I can seal a big weapon in a scroll, I've gotta be able to do the same thing with this fox-bastard.' And the guy did it. He performed the same technique, but instead of sealing the Kyuubi inside a damn scroll, he used a kinjutsu and sealed it in me. Then he bit the dust right after." He took in their looks of disbelief and shook his head. "Look. This isn't an elaborate lie. I'm serious-"

"I know." Sasuke leaned up and off of the tree, looking down at his teammate. "With my sharingan, I can tell."

"Your sharingan?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded. "Are you some kind of a lie detector?"

"Pupil dilation, the direction where they unconsciously move… It's not perfect, but it's damn close," Sasuke replied. "But there was one issue. When he stopped talking. That part's out of the question. What were you going to say?" Instantly, Naruto's heartbeat took off at a wild tempo as he cursed his luck. He hadn't ever suspected that Sasuke's sharingan had even been capable of such a feat.

"I was about to say…" 'Quick, which word starts with 'fa'? "Fault."

"That's a lie."

"Well, forget it!" Naruto grumbled heatedly. "I can't tell you everything, okay? I nearly slipped up and told you something that's even more dangerous to know. The fact of the matter is, you're only seeing the effects is because Orochimaru damaged my seal while I was kept a prisoner."

The disquisition felt like it was getting away Sakura. Secrets upon secrets, the Kyuubi alive-! Sealed _inside_ her teammate…? Sasuke confirmed that he was telling the **truth**!A shiver ran down her spine, harrowing in fear at the implications. At the mere slip of Naruto mentioning that Orochimaru had damaged the seal, Sakura did the only thing she could.

She got up, slowly, as if she were confronting a beast that was attracted to movement. She backpedaled in a similar fashion and once far enough away, made an about turn and walked briskly as if she'd realized that there was somewhere else she needed to be. It could have been interpreted as a rude faux pas, but Naruto freely allowed her departure. She had a lot to process, and there was nothing he could do now to sway her thoughts in his favor; whatever the outcome, it was hers to make.

Sasuke, likewise in Naruto's fashion, had no rise either. They merely watched in silence as their female squad-mate left the clearing, although it was the sharingan-user who broke it. "I don't think she took it well. But to be honest, neither can I... How is this possible?"

"Sasuke, people can walk on water, blow fire and summon monstrous creatures from Kami-knows-where. I don't think it's far-fetched at all. Besides, making people like me by sealing bijus in them is a regular practice in the all the nations, especially the large Hidden Villages." Naruto's riposte was gruff as he turned aside. "I hope she'll keep her mouth shut, but I'd appreciate it if you made that a guarantee."

"I'll talk to her." Sasuke stretched, pondering about any details he missed. "But what about the seal? Was it damaged on purpose?"

"Yeah. He wanted to damage the seal so the Kyuubi would be released to destroy the village."

Sasuke twitched and rested his hand on the seal on his neck. "Snake bastard. But the danger-"

"It'll be fine. The Hokage promised to get a Fuinjutsu expert to fix it, and he's gonna be looking at it today. I know for a fact that he's better than Orochimaru at these kinds of things, anyway!" Naruto gave his friend a cheery thumbs-up. "Don't worry about it! So you can just tell that to Sakura. Now get going before she has a breakdown in the middle of town or something." Sasuke only smirked at the order.

"You're always acting like a know-it-all. I guess you don't know Sakura at all. She'll get over it. You mightn't realize it, but she looks up to you now."

Naruto raised his eyebrow in amazement. "That's a big change from hating my guts only one year ago." He studied Sasuke carefully before walking back over to Kin, who'd had the courtesy to remain quiet while he spoke with his friends. "But she's not the only person who's changed. Take care."

"Hn."

"Then again, maybe some people don't change after all…"

…

…

…

"You haven't said anything in a while. You're not regretting it, are you?"

"No."

"Good. Anyway, I have an idea. You've been bitching about reloading these things faster. Why don't you just make something like a cartridge out of cardboard, then put the tiles or iron marbles and stuff them inside it? That way, you just drop the paper-bomb inside first, then drop the cartridge after. Maybe even fold the tags up until they're small, then glue them to the back of the cartridges before you get into a fight. Just drop them into the weapon whenever you needed to reload it. Simple." She focused her chakra into the carbine she had in her hands and a few seconds later, a single iron marble exploded from it, hitting a tree with a severe impact. She then tossed the weapon over to Uzumaki with a smirk on her face, smug in the fact that she used his weapon without much trouble. "Geez, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"That's the easy part," Naruto complained. "But I want this to be _wide_. It's going to be a pipe with a thick diameter, use the same materials like my mugshots, and… get this!" His tone grew excited. "I want it to shoot **FIRE** at the same time! It's going to be a beast! Imagine! Iron marbles and tile shrapnel…on fire!" He exclaimed dramatically with wild gestures. The girl sweat-dropped, now seriously wondering if the lad had lost his mind.

"Sure… why the fuck _not_?" Kin replied; Naruto could already sense the salty sarcasm approaching. "Let's make it shoot _**money**_ while we're at it."

"You could be more supportive, you know." He stood up, dusting his pants and stretched. "I'm going to get Higurashi-san to make a big pipe this time, and then I'm going to buy some oil-paint thinner. Or some kerosene; it depends on which is on sale at the hardware shops. And maybe some styrofoam cups…" He was now pacing animatedly, his imagination working overtime. "Yeah, one with a lid to put the liquids in. And maybe get Higurashi to put some kind of stock where the weapons lean into my shoulder…"

Kin sat down on the grass and shook her head. She already realized that talking to him now would be useless; that was apparent by the steam (or smoke?) coming out of his ears. While such a creation he was contemplating would certainly be ambitious, she couldn't bring herself to care as much as he did. Instead, she ruminated on their conversation the night before and wondered if he had been completely honest with her.

Her faraway vision from the night before last was already becoming faint in her mind, a gradual process that seemed to worsen by the hour. But she could still envision the faces. One was Naruto's. Another was Mirai's, and the last was Rekishi's. They were so happy. For her.

From Naruto's argument, he contended that the dream might have been that-… only a dream and nothing more. He furthermore went on to say that it could have been born from her own wants for a family. While plausible, she found no fault with it. In that same vein, she believed that she did, in fact, want it. Her biological parents were long gone; a marauder and his gang had wiped them out of existence in his search for riches. All she really had left was an adoptive father who ran a farm for a living, and even in that case, she was doubtful he was still around. (She made a mental note to revisit him in the near future) So what was wrong with wanting a family?

But raising a family of her _own_? That wasn't the same. And why did the vision pair her and Naruto together? Because of their now close-ties? At one point, they were enemies, one a confident 'prey' and the other a doubtful 'predator'. Now, they were friends (unsure of how close), they shared the same ability to foresee the immediate future and her presence kept him from feeling 'negative' and releasing the Kyuubi on accident and…!

Her head began to hurt.

She had kissed him. It started as nothing more than a simple experiment. Her vision determined that they'd be spouses, didn't it? She'd merely tested if it was veritable. While the kiss was admittedly slightly more than chaste, he had interpreted responses from him, _subconscious_ ones. They were befitting someone who had some feelings of romanticism for, even if he himself didn't know it yet; not to mention, he'd have to be an asexual (or a homosexual) to not react like that in the first place. Otherwise, she might as well have kissed a stone statue. The only volatile part of the experiment was that she knew next to nothing about love; the only thing that was certain was uncertainty itself.

If her vision was factual and her experiment returned as an actual positive, then their lives and fates were irrefutably intertwined. While she herself was already disliking her new ability to see (or experience?) the future, she didn't mind the vision she'd had. In fact, it was beginning to show appeal, and in the coming days, she'd be sorry to fail to recollect it. Even now, she was furiously trying to allot what aspects she could recall and anchor them in her long-term memory.

"Well, I suppose 'Rekishi' is a better name for our son than 'Naruto the Second', or 'Naruto Jr.' or 'Bolt' or something," she mumbled lowly to herself. "At least, that's what I _think_ …"

Naruto looked up from his pacing. "Hmm? Did you say something, Kin-chan?"

She smiled to herself. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, 'Jiraiya's' the name of the weird 'Toad Sage' guy, right? He's gonna get here soon, so hurry up and find your mind before he does."

"I'm gonna _make_ this weapon, Kin-chan! And I haven't **LOST** my mind!"

" _Sure_."

* * *

 **Transitional chapter. I'm gonna do some skips soon so I can get to the climax, especially since my update rate has been too far-between as of late. It's still the 26** **th** **day, and I have no intentions of writing filler for them.**

 **I've been thinking… do you know that plot twist at the end of the movie 'Next' when the seer wakes up to find that all of the events were just a vision of the near future? Apparently, this is also an overly used tactic in fictions in a lot of fandoms, and it's especially common in writers who're abandoning their stories:-**

 _ **-And she woke up to find that it was all a dream. End.**_

 **Let me just be the one to say that I have** _ **no**_ **intentions of doing this. Both, actually; this whole fic is NOT a vision that Naruto or Kin is having, and I'm not going to abandon the fic. Unless I die, of course, and I'm sure no one's going to blame me if THAT happens. But I sure as hell don't want it to come to that.**

 **Take care.**

 **Valete omnes,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Living Twice**

 **I hope you've all enjoyed yourself during these holidays. Maybe you'll enjoy today's chapter just as much?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wa…wa…wa… waaaa…**

 **28.**

"I see that you decided to skip the formalities, Jiraiya-sama," Naruto greeted. "I guess the old man told you all about me, huh?"

The Toad Sage nodded. "I've been cautioned about your… faculties." In the privacy of his own mind, he was mildly surprised to see the Uzumaki pay him so much respect. Usually, people amply lost it as the grew more familiar with him and his tendencies. Perhaps he hadn't soiled his image at all in front of the Uzumaki in his visions, and it would be a boon if he continued to do so. A prompt Uzumaki with talents such as his who respected him, particularly because of his skills and rank? Of course, he wanted Naruto to remain reverential to him.

It wasn't a hard task at all to act according to his office, with no form of shenanigans. These weren't exactly the best of times.

Jiraiya pointed to the kunoichi who sat under a tree, mechanizing something in the shade. "Either way, aren't you going to introduce me to your companion? Who's she?"

Naruto shrugged. "You know about her already. C'mon, I'm sure that the 'Kage briefed you about the both of us."

"It's good manners, that's what it is." In response to this, Kin merely gave a jaded wave as she hailed the man, telling him her name. "Alright then," Jiraiya nodded before returning his attention to Naruto. "Now lift your shirt and channel some chakra so that I can see the seal."

The blond obliged him, showing the Sannin the fuinjutsu on his gut. Jiraiya nearly recoiled when he saw the grotesque caricature of what the seal used to be. Kanji was strewn all over the place, lines bent at odd angles and suffice to say, the vestiges of red malevolent chakra visible from it only served to worsen his impression of it.

"A'right," Jiraiya said gruffly, "quit channeling chakra. I've seen enough."

Naruto dropped his shirt. "So? Can you fix it?" To this, Jiraiya only chuckled grimly as he seated himself on the grass in the lotus position, adopting a look of thoughtfulness on his face.

"Fix? _Fix_? One does not simply **fix** a seal. If I had to describe it, I'd say that it's like a roof that's been bored with holes, with only the larger areas barring the worst of the weather and exposure."

"Can you do something about it?" the Uzumaki asked irritably, "preferably as soon as possible? The damned Fox keeps gloating in my mind that he'll come out and eat my corpse first when he does."

"Um… Doesn't that scare you?" the Oto kunoichi queried.

"It used to," Naruto admitted to Kin, "but it's getting kinda stale now." He turned back to Jiraiya, who'd begun to scribble notes in a book he'd retrieved from seemingly nowhere. "So how about it, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Let me say this candidly. You have three options: either I try to mend the seal myself by replacing it or by crafting new ones to buffer the weak areas, or you find some way to master the Kyuubi's chakra. Both of those take a sheer amount of concentration, work and diligence to achieve, and then some."

"And the third option?"

"Nip off and kill yourself," Kin offered wag-like. "Didn't you already know that, or am I the only one who pays attention to their dreams still?"

"That doesn't mean that I wasn't hoping that I wouldn't have to hear about it again." He turned back to the Gama Sennin and shook his head. "I'm not keen on committing suicide, just to buy a few years of safety to the village. Sounds too much like some 'honorable shtick' to me and besides… living actually sucks a little _less_ than being dead."

"It's more of a recommendation to yourself than for the village," Jiraiya admitted, "simply because I've before seen the torment of jinchurikis for hours on end before their inner Biju rips their way out of them. It's a coward's way out, sure, but if you weren't going to live anyway…. why not consider it? Shinobis over the course of history have committed the act for clandestine reasons-"

"Stop trying to sell me on the idea. I'm **not** doing it."

"Fair enough, but I want you to think about every option." The Sannin tapped his chin in thought before moving on. "What about mastering the Kyuubi's chakra? I've been told that you've got a _special talent_." Jiraiya chose to be discreet; after all, something as important as actual foresight was too crucial to simply be loose-lipped about. Just because he staked out the area and cleansed the proximity of any potential eavesdropping mechanics with fuinjutsu didn't mean that it was absolutely safe.

"So what about it? You think that I can master the Kyuubi's chakra with it? How would I go about doing that?"

"Well, you've yet to lose a fight, even against a ninja and _swordsman_ such as Momochi Zabuza himself. That's why I mentioned it. In order to garner the Kyuubi's chakra and master it, you'd have to essentially… fight it. And winning is a **must**." On this, Naruto pondered a while, trying to envision himself fighting the Kyuubi with his weapons and his sole B-C rank ninjutsu which solely consisted of a **Daitoppa.** (Great Breakthrough) From his nightmarish encounters with the beast from hallucinations, he could imagine himself giving every effort he had, only to be swatted aside into oblivion by the Kyuubi pathetically.

A sweatdrop ran down the back of his head. "Fuck no. Just draw up some seals or something and fix this! Isn't that why you're here?"

"I said that it was easier said than done," Jiraiya argued. "And what I just told you were things that you should consider… I mentioned them for a good reason. The damage to the seal is extremely extensive **and** intensive. Not only was the seal severely rendered kaput, but there's been damage done to it over time, even as we speak. If you stop to think about it, you'd realize that your body metabolizes chakra just to keep performing higher processes. Did you rooftop-run here? You burnt chakra. Wore a henge? You burnt chakra. Hell, even burst sprinting could make things worse."

"But I know that already-"

"And who's to say that you won't lapse again into the habit of performing any sort of shinobi techniques? Hmm? Just from looking at the seal alone, I'm already doubtful that I can fix this thing, let alone do it before the damn Kyuubi breaks out. That's even without incurring further damage to the seal in the future which would only make things more disastrous. That's the raw truth, kid."

"Yikes." Kin said uninterestedly. "But we knew that already. Best not waste any more time, right?" To this, the Toad Sage only raised an eyebrow. Of course, it worked out that they could hardly be fazed due to their time faculties, but this was nearly bizarre. Well, he wasn't one who'd let a good thing go to waste. They weren't worried, so he'd might as well come out frankly with the worst of the truth.

"Do you understand that if it comes down to it, I'd have to kill you just to keep the Kyuubi from getting out when I officially acknowledge that I can't fix the seal?"

"We know…"

Jiraiya nodded. "Good to know that you're taking it so well." He beckoned Kin over to him whilst telling Naruto to excuse him to speak privately with the kunoichi. Once he'd gone far enough away, Jiraiya spoke his mind. "Listen, Tsuchi, I'm going to be honest. I don't trust you."

The girl didn't reply, though her stare urged him to continue.

"For all I know, you could just be another enemy kunoichi shimmying up and getting close to someone who's vital to the village; after all, it'd be far from the first time that something like that has happened. I'm already leery about your origins, who you've been allied with, worked for and even more so about how you came to have the same inherent abilities as Naruto. Nonetheless, I can respect the Hokage's decision to give you a bye due to this, not to mention the fact that your… _relationship_ with him keeps him in check. I'm sure you realize by now that it's vital, and even more so by the second."

Kin looked briefly towards the Uzumaki, who was visibly trying to look as if he didn't care about the disposition he wasn't permitted to listen to.

"Since that's why you're basically not sitting in a cell or in a grave, then you'd better keep the kid as cool as a cucumber while I work. Truth be told, my work's gonna take a lot of time, and that's a commodity we don't have much of. Keep him mellow, and if I even suspect that you're opting for some _other_ objective, I'll kill you myself and ask questions later." The man's countenance was as serious as a judge and killing intent was already escaping from him. "Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear, Jiraiya-sama." With her piece done with and dismissed, she excused herself to depart for Naruto's side.

"So… it was the 'warning', huh?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah," she rejoined with a small growl. "I hope that you can keep your shit together, at least for my sake."

Naruto groaned as he tried to muster a grin. "How's this for a smile?" Seeing his wretched attempt at feigning happiness, she shook her head.

"Are you trying to get me killed? Um… how about a joke? What's the fastest way to get an emo out of a tree?" she asked in jest.

"By cutting the rope," Naruto stated simply, effectively nullifying the punch-line.

"Wait… what-"

"I've heard it before."

…

…

…

The day passed on rather sluggishly, particularly by way of Naruto and Kin's point-of-view. By the twenty-ninth, they were already past their tolerance for boredom.

Even without the factor of _fore-experience_ which essentially doubled their perception of each day, Naruto was about to lose his mind. Kin was no different, as she was already wanting to be shut of the abilities she'd garnered from the blond. In fact, by the time Jiraiya suggested that they just read or nap to pass the time, they nearly turned on him instead, questioning whether or not the man hadn't the common sense to see that they were bored to death. They weren't even allowed from his sight, as much as they'd much prefer to pass the time elsewhere.

"Can't I even practice shooting my weapons?"

"From your records, I've read that they need chakra to be triggered. That's a no."

"Damn it! What about training? I don't want to fall out of shape, not to mention the fact that my chakra control's shot!" Naruto argued.

"No. Nothing more than physical exercises. I don't want to take any unnecessary chances," Jiraiya replied before he regarded Kin. "Don't you have anything to suggest to keep him occupied? Job description, hint-hint?"

"Well, what do you want me to do, _fuck_ him?" Kin asked crossly, not heeding whether or not her crass retort could have rubbed the Sannin the wrong way. "Sex is about the only thing we either haven't done already, or we're not _allowed_ to do. We've done everything else from Shogi to _thumb_ - _wrestling_."

Naruto tugged at his collar whilst blushing heavily, trying to urge the of blood in his face back into the rest of his body before he could pass out. "Why would you even mention that?!" he asked in exasperation, "and why are you so stuck on it? We're not in a relationship, and we're NOT going to be married and have children! It was a dream, not a vision!"

"Yes we are, and we will!" Kin yelled back, jabbing at his chest with an index. "It was a vision, and I know it was. You're in denial."

"And you're crazy, calling your weird dreams 'visions'. Just because you predict that we have our first child within the next… what, the next _thirty_ months… does NOT mean that it will happen! Anything can happen between now and then. Anyone out of the both of us could start a relationship with someone else, or we get sick or hurt or die. Anything could happen between now and then!"

Although he was paying rapt attention to everything they were saying for future notation, Jiraiya couldn't help himself from making a quip. "The both of you sound like an old married couple."

"Stay out of this, Jiraiya!" Naruto shouted before looking back to Kin, who was visibly smirking from the Sannin's comment. "What he said has **no** merit."

"Are you serious? If he could think about it like that, it's gotta be some kind of a sign. You sound like a hypocrite for trying to discredit my vision. It's the same reason why you gave me such a hard time when we first met, talkin' about how 'it told you to act like that'. Who knows? Maybe there's even an explanation why these visions just dropped you into my life… on why I'm even _here_."

"Or into mine," Naruto grumbled glumly. "Your life doesn't have to revolve around mine, you know."

"And your life doesn't need to revolve around mine," Kin answered pointedly.

Naruto folded his arms and allowed himself to plop into the grass, trying to figure out the logic of everything. "Then why are you so dead-set about your vision, huh? If that's the way you feel?"

"That's not the way I feel," Kin admitted carelessly. "I really wouldn't mind if the vision came true. In fact… I liked it. I guess I even wish that it'd come true."

"Getting mixed feelings from this," Naruto mumbled under his breath before speaking louder, "but who knows? We're still young. Maybe you'll even bump into someone soon and you'll feel differently."

"That kind of shit doesn't happen in real life, Naruto-kun."

"This is _real life_?"

Kin frowned. "That's not funny. Besides… is it such a bad thing if I want it to happen?" Taking a seat by his side, she wasn't surprised to see him nearly recoil from her touch. "It's me, isn't it?" she asked quietly, before heaving a weary exhale. "I understand. It's not like you've known me your whole life, and it's kinda sudden. The fact that I used to work for the guy who made your life hell and gave you a death-sentence isn't really welcoming either-"

"It's not that!" Naruto's outburst derailed her line of speech. "And it's not you, either. We **both** have messed up histories, and you should know better than to bring that up. The truth is, although we haven't known each other our whole lives, we might as well have. We know each other a lot better than everyone else does, we _understand_ each other and where we're coming from. The problem _isn't_ you." For a minute, he thought of the talk he'd had with Hinata and briefly wondered if he was turning into a regular heartbreaker. 'No. I'm not,' he thought to himself, 'but I feel differently about Kin-chan. Don't I?'

"Then what is the _problem_?" she asked in exasperation.

"It can't be you. I mean you're like pretty, feisty, brave... I mean damn, I'd be LUCKY, and I do consider myself lucky if you actually want your vision to come true." In light of his compliments, she merely smiled coyly while raising an eyebrow.

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Whatever." He hugged her closer to him by the waist to allow a deeper intimacy. "These visions… I'm kinda glad I have them… that _we_ have them. Sure, they're useful, but they're also a pain in the ass. I've tried to do things differently without following them, but things almost always end up badly. If I accept that what you had was a legit vision that _will_ come true, it'll mean two things for me that I want to change."

She remained silent as he took a pause, trying to gather his bearings. This was a particularly difficult subject to him, and he'd be admitting crucial things he'd wanted to keep to himself.

"It'll mean that they're always perfect, and that means that nothing else would _ever_ be. Nothing."

"So? Wouldn't knowing the perfect outcome be a good thing?"

"That's not all. It'd mean that they would _always_ dictate my life… that's kinda scary, Kin-chan." He looked down at his hands, seemingly in an attempt to recreate his manipulative abilities over time but found that he could not. "It's scary to know that my life isn't mine to control. It's scary to know that anything could happen if I don't follow the 'perfect' instructions, that anything and everything could go wrong."

"So you _don't_ want my vision to come true?"

The Uzumaki sighed. "What if you wanted three kids, instead of two? What if you wanted to wear a chastity belt for the next three years because you decide that you're too young to have children? That's the point I'm trying to make. I just don't want to accept everything that these visions spoon-feed me. I'm trying to exercise some faith that I can retake control of my own life, to disregard them whenever I can."

There was that word again. _Faith_. She'd heard it from him several times in the past, and the expression seemed to carry far more weight in their lives than she'd previously imagined. There was something about it that was holding him back from wanting to seek out the truth about her vision.

That's when it struck her.

"You've had a vision that goes against mine."

Naruto sucked in a breath sharply between his teeth. "Oh… shit-"

"What is it? What was it about? What happened?" All of her pressing questions only seemingly made him press deeper and deeper against her. It was only when she noticed that he was actually _crying_ that she realized that the boy-…the one that she had growing feelings for…- had foreseen a tragedy. "Which one of us?" she whispered lowly. She wasn't really wishing to find out and yet she felt as if she had a responsibility in sharing what he knew.

"It's _**you**_. It's the vision that I had while I was stuck in the cell, about me unleashing the Kyuubi. At the end of it, you die because of some sort of summoning jutsu. And believe me, Kin-chan, I hope to Kami that your vision is _true_. It's not just because of having two wonderful children. It's not just because we end up married. It's not just because I'm even starting to crush on you like some little kid. It's because if my damn vision shows that my life would be perfect without you in it, I want to continue living a shitty one."

She needed no higher level consideration to think about what he meant. They were merely two quintessences, two individualities who'd found consolation and solace in each other. The roots didn't lay in anything as momentary as love, nor as stalwart as destiny, although it could very well be both that was concurrent in their lives. Rather, the roots were in a perfect focal point, wherein two people from grungy backgrounds and impossible chances of meeting… had encountered one another, and had been all the better for it.

And now she was doomed to die?

It was now that she understood Naruto's reasoning. He wasn't truly against her vision of their eventual conjoining… he was against the nature of how they dictated the eventualities of his life with perfect accuracy in an endeavor to make it 'faultless'. She recalled the vision he'd had; Naruto had told her about it before, whilst he was still in captivity to Orochimaru. The Hebi was dead, wasn't he? That should mean that her death shouldn't come to pass tomorrow-… something to take relief in. Nonetheless, she still had to regard the fact that she was meant to die. Was that supposed to be a perfect outcome?

All of a sudden, she was looking at her newfound gifts in a new light. She'd begun to appreciate them, even going as far to find annoyances in their few drawbacks, but she'd always thought them to be perfect.

Never-minding the contradiction, his vision still had to be considered. Would it have been for the best if he alone was to live? With that contemplated, would she allow her demise or to even _kill herself_ to ensure that his perfect result was allowed to become true?

Perhaps she was overthinking this. It was a rather dark prospect, and Naruto had already conceded that he actually wanted her vision to come true. It was already a small failure to accept, knowing they'd be controversial for accepting one vision to be perfect over the other, yet what other choice did they have?

But they couldn't afford to leave anything to chance.

"Jiraiya-sama?"

"Hai, Kin-san?" The Toad Sage did not even look up from his work, although he had been keenly listening to their conversation.

"Please fix his seal. Quickly." The man did reply to her, but she didn't mind. Instead, she chose to pay more attention to the blond by her side who seemed far more deserving-… and needing…- of it now. "Don't worry Naruto-kun," Kin whispered, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Nowhere?"

"Well, nowhere that you're not going first." Her jovial return was well received, and it made him smile. Yet, under his skin, he felt that there was something dark about her remark, and wondered if she'd follow him to hell and back.

Despite this, wasn't he happy that someone who'd do that with him was now by his side?

Damn, he was falling for her faster than he thought.

She felt the same.

 **=X=X=**

"We have a problem, Hiruzen-sama."

There was no question, no doubt. Whenever Jiraiya came to him saying that, however rare as it may be, the Fire Shadow immediately dropped whatever what he was doing to give his former student his undivided attention. He could tell that this was a kage bunshin of the man, though it still warranted a meeting inside his study, deep inside the Sarutobi household. "What is this about, Jiraiya? About Naruto's seal?"

"Mainly about that," Jiraiya affirmed, "but there are a few other things that have me worried. But I need to know this… did you _confirm_ Orochimaru's death, and are you sure that he's **dead**?"

"We've been over this, Jiraiya. Orochimaru is dead. Naruto killed him, and I checked that it was indeed his remains. I burnt it to ashes. Completely."

"Completely?"

" _Completely_."

Jiraiya sighed. "Since you're not the one that 'killed' him, we should take for granted that he could be alive. He's always been a snake, him. He could deceive anyone, and have contingencies to prolong his life in bizarre ways."

"Why is this now your main concern?" the Kage queried.

"It's the young ones. Naruto and Kin."

The Hokage seated himself in his most comfortable seat, already reaching for his pipe. He needed no sort of clairvoyance as did the two teens to know that this disquisition was about to go up shit creek without a paddle. "They've been creating trouble for you?"

"Close. It's their visions. I've been re-reading their reports over and over and over. Something about them just doesn't make any sense. It hit the boiling point today when they were arguing about the girl's dream or _vision_ as it may be. She said that she foresaw that they were married and had kids. Seems like some far-fetched hallucination she dragged out of her ass if you asked me. Worst case scenario, Orochimaru planned a fake death to cozy them up together so that they could reproduce seers for him. Wouldn't put it past him."

"Ibiki verified whatever visions and memories she's had before she left her cell. Her vision, by then, was and is now a part of her memories, and he confirms that she may as well have experienced it in her own past. It's unclear how their visions work, but it's almost as if the future writes itself as memories to these two. Her visions exist, and may well come true." He filled his pipe with dried tobacco and lit up with a small Katon jutsu, whereupon he then inhaled a toke. "I entertain the possibility that she could err, however. I myself haven't warmed up to her entirely seeing that she's had a murky history with Orochimaru, notwithstanding also that she was previously an enemy kunoichi and not a native to our village."

"I understand that. But it's not her that I have the real problem with. It's Naruto. I've been reading the reports on his vision. It's actually becoming to appear likely, as I still can't wrangle a fix for his seal. He had a clusterfuck of a vision for tomorrow's chunin exams. You know the details of his reports on it, don't you?"

"It's ridden my mind, yes. Certain elements were disturbing, such as the boy meeting his father through what appears to be an Edo Tensei, and the Shodaime and Nidaime; they were all corpses summoned on the usage of Orochimaru's undercover genin team. Is that why you mentioned Orochimaru? Because he's been working on mastering it?"

"Yeah. But you said that he's dead. I still have my doubts, and I leave nothing to chance. We'll have to accept that Orochimaru's still alive… and prep the village while I take Naruto out of it. If worst comes to worst, I'll have to kill him outside the village, or as a precaution that I don't kill him when the going gets tough where the seal is concerned, the village won't be endangered."

This was dire. Already, Hiruzen could already the vestiges of his pupil's distress leaking through. "You believe that his vision could be erroneous, while Naruto's vision could ring far too true."

"Exactly. Orochimaru could still be alive, I'm still unsuccessful at fixing the gaki's seal and our options are running out as fast as time itself. We need to start making decisions, or our procrastination could very well cause the events of the brat's vision. We dismissed it when you said that you confirmed the death of Orochimaru, but given as how the seal is progressively getting worse, we can't take anything for granted. Not _one_ thing."

"So…" Sarutobi drew a long snuffle on his pipe, before breathing it out again. It did little to alleviate his stress; it would be far from the first time it'd been this bad. In all frankness, he found it almost easier to start a war than to tell Jiraiya what he needed to say. "Jiraiya. I pray that you'll be successful in your endeavor to mend the seal. However, if you cannot, you'll have to dispatch Minato's legacy. You'll have to kill Naruto to defer the threat of the Kyuubi to the Village hidden in the Leaves."

That was all. There was no quarrel, no murmurs, no added comments. Jiraiya, although sheer hesitancy was riding his mind, wondered if it would do any good to spill his guts about Naruto's history to him if he realized that he couldn't fix it. Would it make the boy more willing to subject himself to death, or alleviate Jiraiya's own consciences? The Sannin did not know. Suddenly, the future was cast in a horrid shade of gray, and for once would actually prefer if it was Kin's vision that would come to pass in the stead of Naruto's own. It was clear which future seemed altogether lighter over the darker substitute.

At this point, _anything_ seemed to be a better alternative. To kill his own godson? Furthermore, would it truly be for the best that he killed a Naruto with too much personal angst between them or a Naruto under the impression that it was only business? God, he kept seeing Minato's face in place of his godson's. If he went through with this, how could he ever face his pupil in the afterlife?

It was with a quiet resolve that Jiraiya found his moorings and gathered his conviction. This needn't happen. The future was not set in stone. Even if it were, he'd defy it and repair Naruto's seal. This was absolute, and there was no room nor time for error.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

To himself, Hiruzen could sense his student's distress and it pained him to give him such an order. Nonetheless, he had the sagacity to determine that Jiraiya meant that he would not fail in restoring Naruto's seal. While it would be foolish to entertain the idea that Jiraiya would succeed with no chance for failure, it was a notion that the Hokage wanted to hear. Faith, even a false one, was a good thing to have in dire times.

"Good," the Kage acknowledged. "Good."

 **Happy New Year, y'all! Belated? Whatever. I hope all of you made it back, and let's just… take a minute to remember those who didn't make it thus far.**

…

…

…

 **It's been a somewhat shitty year for some, and a less-than-suckish one for others. We can give thanks for what we retained-… our lives, and whatever measure of health we have.**

 **Story-wise…**

 **Yep, tomorrow's the chunin exams and the beginning of the climax of the fic. When everything is resolved (don't know how many chapters) it'll mark the end. Hopefully, I'll wrap this up before October, which will make this fic three years old. One can only hope for fast updates.**

 **Cherishing Auld Lang Syne,**

 **MRAY 4TW.**


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